The Center of Everything
by Aveza
Summary: On Tai's worst school day to date, he meets a girl who may just change his perspective of that time in retrospect. High school drama. OCs. Digimon mentions, but none actually present. English dub names. Sorato. Oh, and heavily Tai/OC. COMPLETE!
1. One

**Disclaimer****: I OWN NOTHING. (Except for my OCs)**

**Warnings****: High School Alternate Universe. Digimon will NOT be present, but there will be mentions. Active pairings will be Tai/OC, Sorato, and OC/OC. Hints of and allusions to Takari, Koumi, and Kenyako.**

**A/N****: So, this is my first Digimon fanfic. Expect your typical high school drama. Nothing too risqué, mind you, but not entirely innocent, either. Umm… what else? It's a slow romance, so no immediate hanky-panky. It's also rather OC heavy, but I could care less. Also, it uses some dance jargon that may be unfamiliar, but knowing what they mean isn't particularly necessary. Also-also, I'm not a dancer, but I did my best to do my research. Aaand, yep. That's about it. Happy reading! **

xXx

**_- The Center of Everything - _**

xXx

_Summary__: One well-known, big-haired, former goggle-wearing teenager failing science class encounters one unknown, flat-haired, headband-wearing, computer-challenged adolescent dancer on his worst day ever (to date). But this serendipitous meeting ends up being more than just a reminder of Tai's high school woes. In retrospect, it becomes, perhaps, one of the best days of his life._

xXx

One

xXx

**T**ai's head was buried beneath his pillow, his arm dangling lifelessly at the side of his bed. A soft, wet circle of drool lay underneath his gaping mouth. His snores were muffled underneath his sheets. Footsteps shuffled outside of his closed bedroom door, and in the distance, some breakfast dishes clinked faintly.

A sudden, blaring buzz startled the rest of the household as Tai's alarm clock went off, and while the housecat ran off to a far corner of the apartment to elude the ringing, Tai remained unaffected, snores combating the new noise of his clock. His arm instinctively reached over and smacked the 'snooze' button. When the alarm went off again some time later, Tai still ignored it until, five minutes later, his ears were at last pierced by the racket.

Flailing, he shot up from his bed, narrowly missing knocking his skull against the bottom of the top bunk. A look of panic streaked his face when he turned to read the time.

"_Crap._"

Blindly, he searched the clutter on the bedroom floor for his wrinkled school uniform, rapidly disrobing and donning the white collared shirt and brown pants.

A soft knock tapped on his door.

"Come in!" he said whilst pushing his arms through his green jacket sleeves.

Kari entered the room, greeting her older brother with a smile before it faded at the mere sight of his disheveled hair and rumpled clothes.

"You don't honestly think that Mom will let you go to school looking like that?" Kari said. She was already dressed, her backpack slung over her petite shoulders.

Tai shoved his feet through a pair of socks.

"Well, she's going to have to," he grumbled. "We'll be late if she doesn't!"

Kari leaned against the door jamb and took a quick scan of the room. She hadn't gotten a good look at it when she woke, but now that there was sunlight pouring through the windows, the scene she had apparently missed was now laid bare before her.

Textbooks were scattered everywhere, some open, some closed. Pieces of cut paper, markers, pens, scissors were lain haphazardly about their room. Stuffed into one corner was a sorry piece of poster board. She thought she was looking at the remnants of a kindergarten class after craft hour.

"Just how late were you up last night?" she asked, the question unable to go unspoken.

"Too late," Tai muttered. "I had a stupid science project to finish."

Before Kari could ask what about, their conversation was interrupted by a pert, "Tai, honey, you awake now?"

Mrs. Kamiya stood in the doorway, a glass of orange juice in her hands. She had gone through the routine enough to know that her oldest child would have to skip breakfast for the umpteenth time.

"Yeah. Barely," said Tai, distracted. His hands were mindlessly stuffing his backpack with the school books he had sewn across the floor.

"Don't be in such a rush. You might forget something," Kari advised.

Mrs. Kamiya offered her son the glass in her hands.

"Your sister's right, Tai," she said. "Take it easy."

Tai swung his backpack over his shoulder, reached for the beverage and chugged it down in two swift gulps.

His mother frowned.

"I said take it easy. It's dribbling onto your uniform."

"What?" he said, mid slurp. He looked down at his shirt and saw blots of orange seep into the white fabric. "No one will notice." He grinned assuredly.

His mother sighed, giving him a silent, maternal glare before reaching for his messy collar and tidying it.

"Get going, then," she said. She took the empty glass and went into the kitchen. "You'll miss your bus!"

After saying a rushed goodbye to his mother, Tai grabbed Kari's hand and hauled themselves out the front door. As she was being dragged to the elevator, Kari realized something that her older brother, in his race to get to school, completely forgot about.

"Tai," she said, trying to get her arm free.

They reached the elevator and Tai punched buttons manically until the door opened and he rushed inside, where he proceeded to punch even more.

"Tai," Kari repeated, looking warily at the elevator door as it began to shut.

He ignored her.

"Come on," he muttered under his breath, a finger permanently pressed on the ground floor button. "Faster."

"Tai," she said again, louder this time.

"No time to talk, Kari. Our bus leaves soon."

"But..."

The elevator stopped three floors below theirs.

"Oh, come on!" Tai banged his forehead on a wall. The newest passenger walked into the elevator in time to witness him beat his brains on cold metal, and Kari could only be embarrassed for her stubborn sibling.

"He's had a bad morning," she explained.

They arrived at the end of the block just in time to catch the last bus to school and happily seated themselves in a booth. Both were panting from their unintended morning run, and they sat slumped in their seats.

"Next time," Kari began, pausing to catch her breath, "I ask you to wake up on time so we don't have to do this again."

"I thought that'd you'd be used to it by now," Tai replied, happy to provide comic relief now that he was on track to school. Once there, he'd turn in his science project, sit back in his seat, relax, and enjoy the rest of the day until the sweet ringing of the bell. He even forgot about the orange stain on his shirt.

Kari laughed and finally took the time to look around the bus, hoping to spot any of their friends. The majority of passengers were stone-faced adults commuting to their corporate jobs. There were a few student stragglers such as themselves, one of which had a very big poster board with him.

Turning back to Tai, Kari asked:

"Is that kid in your class, Tai?"

"Why would you ask that?"

When Kari said nothing, Tai turned to look at the kid in question, and, once seeing the poster board in the kid's hands, froze completely.

"Shoot, shoot, shoot," he grumbled, running his hands vigorously through his hair before banging his head (again) on the back of the seat in front of him. Kari bit her bottom lip. She laid a hand on her brother's shoulder.

"I tried to remind y—"

"Don't blame yourself, Kari," Tai interrupted, realizing what his sister had been trying to tell him in the elevator. "It's my fault for not listening."

"Are you going to be okay?"

Tai shook his head.

"I'm dead, Kari. I'm dead."

xXx

Matt looked anxiously from his wristwatch to the continuous stream of students headed to their classes. Judging by the amount of traffic, the bell was minutes away from ringing, and most were looking to avoid a tardy on their permanent records.

"Come on, Tai. Where are you?" he asked himself, his feet beginning to teeter.

As he looked down one direction of the hallway, a large mess of brown hair passed him, and he acknowledged the arrival of his long-awaited best friend with a happy grin.

"Tai!" Matt greeted, slapping his friend's shoulder. The big-haired teen continued to plod forward, his sneakered feet dragging despite Matt's hold on him.

Tai was not in any mood to be chatting. No project from him meant that he'd have to come up with an excuse. A bad excuse meant an irritated teacher, and an irritated teacher meant an irreversible final grade of 'F.' At this point in his schooling, he couldn't afford any flunks. He was only a couple years away from university—_if_ he would even make it there.

"Tai!" Matt hailed again, this time getting his friend's attention.

"Yeah, Matt?" he said, blinking a few times. "What's up?"

Matt gave him a look.

"What's up?" he echoed, annoyed. "Did you hear anything I just said?"

Tai scratched his head.

"I take that as a no." Matt folded his arms over his chest. "I said I need a favor from you. I need some help posting up flyers for my band's show this weekend. I'd do it myself during lunch, but I made a bargain with the guidance counselor." He shook his head. "The things you do for a schedule change."

"Can't you get Izzy to do it?"

"I already did. I can't expect you to do everything. Anyway, the guidance counselor said she'd agree to my schedule change if I gave a new student a tour today. I guess someone hates giving tours more than I do."

"So… what? You going to follow this person around all day?"

"Pretty much. I have to show this kid where his classes will be, where the library, labs, and other important rooms are."

"Sounds pretty lame."

"Yeah, well, it beats having to take advanced trigonometry next semester with Mr. Sato."

Tai allowed a weak smirk.

"Sure, Matt. I'll put up some flyers."

The duo went off to class after the warning bell sounded, one significantly in lighter spirits than the other. Tai still could not get over the fact that he had forgotten his science project at home—the same science project he had worked on for a total of, say, three days (more nights, than days, really), and the very same that kept him up until three in the morning. A moan emanated from the back of his throat as he reluctantly walked closer and closer to his doom—a doom he could have prevented.

For a second, he looked down at his shoes and noticed the ugly orange stain on his shirt. He hadn't told Matt about his predicament, simply for the sake of keeping that truth unspoken. It wouldn't help him through the class if he kept on reiterating the fact that he had stupidly left his project behind, so he, for once, kept his mouth shut.

"Boy," he murmured to himself, "does this day su—"

"_Watch it!_"

With an 'oof!', Tai smacked into someone. There was an ensuing yelp and the image of a female student tripping over and sending not only a few books onto the ground, but a few (now bruised) knees. Tai endured the collision like a stiff oak tree and stayed where he was, wondering, for a few seconds, what had just happened.

"You should probably look where you're going," he said at last, picking up a fallen book and handing it to her.

"Likewise." She took the book with a short bow. Before Tai could even frown, she left promptly while rubbing a sore joint.

"Dude." This, from Matt. "Are you all right?"

"Huh?"

"I don't know. It could just be me," said Matt, grinning, "but you look like a little… preoccupied."

"You're observant," Tai retorted, resuming his walk to death row.

"Come on. Tell me what's going on."

After a few more persistent inquiries, Tai finally told Matt the full extent of his bad morning, and the latter could offer little to help what was destined to come for the former. Matt knew that excuses were not tolerated by their strict science teacher and that even if Tai had actually done the assignment, his hard work meant nothing if it wasn't handed to the teacher in physical form.

"Hey, it can't be that bad," heartened Matt. "You've faced bigger monsters. Literally."

The last bell rang and after taking in a large breath, Tai walked into Mr. Tokoya's classroom, the words "_I'm dead… dead… dead…_" circling within the globe of his brain.


	2. Two

**A/N: Thank you for the reviews! I'll try not to disappoint. So without further ado, here's chapter two! (Haha, that rhymed!) /dorkiness. **

xXx

Two

xXx

**M**r. Tokoya was a plain man with a penchant for gray suits, gray ties, and black shoes, and his voice seemed to directly convey his appearance. It was dull, heavy, and had the peculiar trait of lingering in the air like city smog. Tai liked to say that listening to his lectures was pure torture, but, since he slept through most classes, he really wouldn't know.

The class was surprisingly quiet when Mr. Tokoya entered, and as he walked to his desk at the front of the room, he eyed the line of science projects turned in at a back table through his thick glasses.

"I'm glad you all have set a good impression for our new student," he said tonelessly, setting a briefcase down on his desk before gesturing to the aforementioned pupil. "Class, this is Miss Hana Kurosawa."

His class nodded in unison at the girl standing solo before them all, to which the girl replied with her own short, embarrassed bow, the white headband she as wearing slipping a bit. She looked nervously down at her exposed, sore knees.

Mr. Tokoya peered at his class for a few moments, as if counting each head in silent attendance.

"Hmm… Kurosawa. Kurosawa," he mused to himself as he examined his classroom. "From Mr. Kamiya onward," he announced, "move into the seat ahead of you."

After a bit of scurrying and scooting of chairs, a new seat was available that would place the new student in her alphabetically correct order in the class.

"Take your seat, Miss Kurosawa," he ordered.

With a bob of the head, Hana made way to her spot, sitting behind the same big-haired oaf that tripped her and next to his blond accomplice. She wondered if she would even be able to see the board since there seemed to be a giant hairball in the way. After some closer observations, she noticed that he who sat in front of her was tapping his fingers rapidly on his desk top.

"As you all know," said Mr. Tokoya, beginning class, "your projects were due today. I am happy to see the many turned in at the back of the room. Unless no one volunteers to go first, I will select the first presenter."

Tai prayed that someone would raise a hand. Usually, once someone willingly volunteered, others kept the tradition up and before he knew it, the class period would be up, not everyone would have presented, and he'd have another day to convince Mr. Tokoya not to fail him.

"No volunteers?" said Mr. Tokoya.

Tai felt heart plummet into his stomach.

"Very well. We'll continue on to the lottery."

Each student had a number assigned to him or herself, which corresponded to a numbered popsicle stick in a can. Mr. Tokoya reached to pick a number. Tai's fist clenched.

"Sixteen," he read aloud. He looked at his class and counted seats, and his eyes set on Hana.

"Ah. Miss Kurosawa."

Hana looked up, green eyes wide, only to witness one of Mr. Tokoya's rare and unnerving smiles. "Ah, you don't have a project as you've just arrived." He put the number back in the can. "Mr. Kamiya, then, will you please come up and present your project?"

At his name, Tai started as if just shocked with a taser.

"My project?" he said stupidly.

The corners of Mr. Tokoya's hard mouth dipped significantly southward.

"…Yes," he said, "your project. Mr. Kamiya, you _do_ have your project with you? Otherwise, you'd have a failing grade in this class." Tai smiled nervously, not realizing that his face was almost as red as a tomato.

"O-Of course I have a project, Mr. Tokoya! It's just…" His voice dwindled. "…at home."

A wave of giggles swept through the room and Tai shrank into his seat. "Mr. Kamiya, you've never been one to avoid going up first. Don't use the excuse now."

"I… I'm not…lying." He felt like he had a toad in his throat and had to speak through tight lips. "I don't have my project."

Mr. Tokoya pushed his glasses up the bridge of his sharp nose, staring down the student who had the nerve to come to class severely unprepared.

"Thank you for telling us, Mr. Kamiya," said Mr. Tokoya mockingly. "Perhaps I'll see you in my class next year, or maybe summer school?" Another storm of chuckles waved into the room and Tai could do nothing but put his head down in shame, allowing Hana to finally get a clear view of the chalkboard.

The next person summoned walked miserably up, project in hand, and for the next hour, various science projects—the culminations of what were supposed to be weeks of thorough research and hard work—were presented to the class. Matt could not help looking to his left at the new girl, whom he was certain was the student he would have to chaperone for the rest of the day.

"Mr. Ishida," came Mr. Tokoya's tiring voice. Matt turned promptly. Perhaps he had stared too long. "Pay attention. This may be the last presenter of our class today, but that is by no means an excuse for being inattentive. You present first thing tomorrow morning." With a soft snort, Matt faced forward in his seat to watch the student who did a project on the sense of smell and had made a giant model of the human nose. His ear twitched when he heard a small snicker, and he glanced at Hana, who sat looking over Tai's lowered head smiling.

When the bell rang, students rushed out of Mr. Tokoya's classroom, nearly stumbling over each other as they made for the exit. Matt, however, lingered, hoping to have a word with Miss Kurosawa before she finished gathering her books. Meanwhile, Tai had already sprinted out of the room into the hallway when he realized that Matt was not with him. With a grunt, he turned back and caught Matt and the new student conversing.

"What's the hold up, Matt?" he said. "We have to get to Lit."

"One sec, Tai. I have to show Hana where her math class is."

"Who?"

"Hana." He pointed to the girl standing beside him. Hana, smiling thinly, gave Tai a limp wave.

"Oh." He raised an eyebrow at her. "Have we… met?"

"No, not personally," said Hana. "Though you did help my knees meet the cold floor."

With his lack of sleep, it took Tai an awkward few seconds to finally understand what she meant. He smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry about that."

"Okay," said Matt, stepping in. "We've got to get to class. Hana, follow me."

After showing Hana to her math room, Matt and Tai headed for their own class, Literature, and made it just in time for the late bell to ring.

Unlike Mr. Tokoya's class, Literature with Miss Eda was much more lax, and students were free to choose where they wanted to sit. Matt took his usual spot next to Sora, subtly touching the back of her hand in passing. Tai took a seat behind the pair.

"Talk about cutting it close," greeted Sora. She pulled out a textbook of Shakespeare's plays. "What made you guys almost late? I was beginning to wonder."

"Matt's showing a new girl around the school, so we had to show her where her next class was," Tai answered.

"For your schedule change, right?" asked Sora, turning to Matt.

"Hey, it beats having a bad schedule for next semester. Besides, don't you want me in your chemistry class?" He winked and Sora blushed with a laugh.

"What's her name?" she questioned when she had regained composure. "Maybe I'll have a class with her."

"Hana…" Matt paused. "I don't remember her last name."

"And you think _I_ have the memory problem," remarked Tai.

"Hey! At least _I_ didn't forget my science project."

"Shut up."

Sora took command of the conversation before the bickering continued.

"Calm down, guys," she said. "Tomorrow's Friday. Try to be happy."

"Oh, but it's already bad for me," Tai complained. "I just hope it doesn't get any worse."

xXx

By the time lunch had arrived, Hana Kurosawa had a headache and she fussed over the purpling splotches on her knees. Her classes were tolerable, the students were accepting, and the teachers were helpful, but moving was new to her and despite the kindnesses she received, she still felt quite out of place. School in Japan was rather different from where she used to live, and she had to constantly remind herself to bow. At least she had a student guide to help with her transition. As promised, Matt had always caught up with her after each class to show her where her next one was. The class before lunch, he had said that he would introduce her to his friends, just so that she wouldn't have to do something awkward on her first day, like eat in the bathroom. He led her to the cafeteria where he guided her through the throng of students, pointing out the various cliques in existence, before eventually bringing her to their destination.

Sora and Izzy were already at the table, their heads turning when Matt and the new student arrived.

"Hey, Matt," Izzy greeted. He spoke to him but was looking at the unknown face of his charge.

"Hey, guys. This is Hana. She's new. Hana, this is Sora Takenouchi, and this is Koushiro Izumi. We all call him Izzy, though. They're good friends of mine." After pointing out who was who, Matt took a seat next to Sora, who handed him a tray of food. He accepted it with his usual grateful smile and knew Sora had received the message when he felt her foot bump into his under the lunch table.

"Here, Hana, you can sit next to me." Sora gestured to a spot next to her. "How are you finding your first day?"

Hana took the seat gratefully and from her backpack pulled out a small bento box and a pair of chopsticks.

"It's been fine," she said. "It'll take some getting used to, but nothing too bad has happened. I'm thankful that I've had Matt to help me ease into school life here."

"Well, he's a dependable guy, especially if it means getting out of a math class," Sora teased. "How's the rest of your day looking?"

Hana pulled her schedule out of her notebook and passed it over to Sora, who shortly thereafter commented that she shared the same gym period with the newest addition to their lunch table.

"Oh, what a relief!" exclaimed Hana. "I was dreading going to gym."

"Well," said Sora, "now you don't have to dread it alone. Though, I have to tell you, it's one of my favorite subjects."

The girls continued to chat away, Matt occasionally catching blips of their conversations about school cliques, extracurriculars, and why their school's uniform was green. He was currently half-eavesdropping on Hana telling Sora where she was from when Izzy captured his attention.

"Where's Tai?" he asked.

Matt arched an eyebrow.

"You mean he's not in the cafeteria? Maybe he's in the lunch line."

"If he were in the lunch line now, he'd never get food."

"Then wh—"

Izzy's questions were answered when Tai slogged up to the table, looking rather pathetic without a tray full of food. He plopped himself next to Izzy, resting his chin on the tabletop while his arms remained limp by his sides. He exhaled once, noisily, causing everyone at the table to pause and look at him.

"So…" he said, "anyone else having a bad day?"

"What's eating you?" asked Izzy.

"I just came from Mr. Tokoya's classroom to ask him if he'd let me turn in my project tomorrow. He won't accept it. He's going to fail me." Tai paused. "Well, that, and by the time I got here, the lunch line was closed. I'm starving."

"Want a cracker?" Izzy offered, tossing it towards Tai's face. It bounced off his nose before it dropped back to the table.

"Thanks, Izzy," Tai said, gobbling up the small biscuit.

"Maybe you can bribe him?" suggested Matt tentatively. It wasn't the best idea, but it was worth a try.

"With what?" Tai snapped. "My soul?"

"I don't think your soul is valuable enough to Mr. Tokoya," commented Izzy.

Tai snorted indecorously.

"Very funny."

"Well, what can you do, Tai?" said Matt.

"Look forward to summer school," he grumped.

Tai's foul mood accompanied him throughout the rest of the day, pervading his demeanor and thoughts from the end of the lunch hour and through every class thereafter. Physical education proved especially frustrating for the young Mr. Kamiya, who, on an empty stomach, had to endure a mile run, intense rounds of push-ups, sit-ups and pull-ups before the period ended. Their gym unit for the week just _had_ to be body-building. He felt like vomiting by the time their stout gym teacher released them to the locker rooms, and he rushed toward the spot where he had dumped his school uniform so that he could wash-up, get dressed, and get to the vending machine in a nearby hallway for some desperately needed sugar. Only, once he got to the place where he had dropped his uniform, Tai looked down with a furrowed brow at the spot where he had placed his clothes. They weren't there.

Matt, who shared the class with him, walked by, remarking on Tai's pinched visage.

"Have you seen my uniform?" Tai asked.

"Beats me," said Matt, heading toward the showers. "This isn't your bedroom, Tai. Maybe you shouldn't leave your uniform lying around and use the lockers like a smart person."

"Ha, ha," Tai scoffed, his arms now crossed over his chest. "Says the guy whose apartment smells like stinky socks."

Matt shrugged.

"Check the lost-and-found."

While Matt and the other boys went off to rub the sweat off their skin, Tai continued searching for his missing clothes. He wondered what kind of idiot sees a school uniform on the ground and puts it somewhere else, or, more likely, how a pile of clothes could just get up and leave. After failing to find anything on his own, he decided to take Matt's advice and looked in the lost-and-found box by the gym teacher's office.

To his disgust, his clothes were right there, sitting at the top of the pile of lost goods.

"I'm going to kill you, Matt," mumbled Tai, "for being right all the time."

xXx

Tai managed to suffer through the rest of the school day without losing or forgetting anything else, and he was thankful for the last bell that freed him from the uniformed pageantry that was high school. He had gone to the locker rooms to change again for soccer practice and was on his way to the pitch when he passed by Mr. Tokoya's science room.

His steps came to a halt and he shifted his book bag to the other shoulder as he contemplated entering and begging the teacher to give him one more chance. He deserved to be given another opportunity, after all. It wasn't like he forgot his project on purpose. Accidents happen, and, for him, they just all happened to occur on the same day. His hands tightened into fists as he steeled his resolve.

He walked into the classroom.

"Mr. Tokoya," Tai began, speaking with purpose as he approached the teacher's desk, a daring finger pointed at the teacher in question. His courage came to a halt and he stopped midstride when he realized his instructor was speaking to someone else.

"Mr. Kamiya," addressed Mr. Tokoya, narrowing his eyes on his student and preventing Tai from becoming too surprised at the presence of a fellow pupil. "If you've come to talk about your absent project, I have a proposal for you."

Tai forgot to blink.

"Wait. You what? Hours ago you were content to let me fail, Mr. Tokoya."

"You don't want to hear what I have to say, then?"

"N-No!" Tai laughed cheaply. "I'll take anything you have to offer."

"Good."

Mr. Tokoya got up from his desk chair, a packet of papers in hand, which he gave to the student to whom he had formerly been speaking.

"I called Miss Kurosawa here because I realized that she, like you, though for other reasons, is also left without a science project, which makes up a considerable part of your overall grade. The trimester isn't over, yet. You have about four weeks to put a project together, and since you are short on time, you and Miss Kurosawa will work on this project together."

Tai balked, looking from Hana to Mr. Tokoya as if he was staring into the faces of his undertakers. His face reddened—not from embarrassment, but from anger.

"I _did_ do my project, Mr. Tokoya," Tai asserted. "I can prove it. I can go home right now and bring it back here."

"This behavior does not become you, Mr. Kamiya," scolded Mr. Tokoya with a shake of his head. "You can choose to accept my proposition or not, though may I remind you that you are not exactly my star pupil and that any extra opportunity I give you should be taken with consideration?"

Flexing his clenched fist, Tai relented, bowing his head in respect.

"Yes, sir," he mumbled. Slowly, he turned to Hana, who had remained silent during the entire altercation. She smiled half-heartedly before turning her attention to their teacher.

"Thank you for the project guidelines, Mr. Tokoya," she said, lowering her head.

Mr. Tokoya waved both her and Tai off, obviously nauseated by their prolonged company.

"I expect a project proposal by the end of next week," he said in farewell, "in which you will detail your topic of research, any experiments that you plan on conducting, and references of sources that you believe may aid you."

"Yes, sir," the two said simultaneously.

They were dismissed, and Tai and Hana walked in awkward silence down the hallway, the latter a few steps ahead, seemingly in a hurry. A part of Tai wanted to say that Mr. Tokoya was being unfair—wrong, really—but he had enough sense to know when a battle was lost. He had, after all, confronted his stubborn teacher three times that day, and while two of those instances yielded nothing, the last at least gave him the opportunity to not only redo his project, but to probably do a better job on it. He had to take the situation for what it was. He was being given a second chance. It was better than a definite failure and its immediate effect: summer school.

He switched his gaze forward from his shoes and realized that his new project partner was apparently trying very hard to get away from him, which he could understand why. He forgot that she had been at the lunch table, that she had been in his science class, and had therefore witnessed him at his worst. He sniffed affectedly, realizing that because he had spent too long looking for his missing school uniform in gym, he hadn't gotten the chance to shower. He even _smelled_ awful. No wonder she was trying to avoid him.

"I..." He spoke into the empty hallway, his voice creating a slight echo.

Hana turned, startled that he had spoken, and, since there was no one else in the hallway, spoken to her.

"I guess we should exchange information?" he finished.

Hana stayed put where she was, hesitating for a moment.

"That makes sense," she said at last, after seeing her future project partner begin to sweat around the temples. She approached him, stopping a foot away from his person and blushing when he instinctively took a step back. In her head, she chided herself for the faux pas. Personal spaces in Japan were different from those she was used to despite the country's crowdedness. She noticed the same thing with Matt when she had walked too closely alongside him while he directed her to her classes.

Tai pulled out his cell phone, attempting to speak to her while he opened up a 'New Contact' profile. In the silence that ensued, he felt the oddest compulsion to justify whatever behavior she had had the misfortune to see.

"I wasn't trying to, you know, be a jerk back there in Mr. Tokoya's room—or for the entire day, really. I've just been having a bad day. I don't normally march into my teachers' rooms pointing a finger at them or act like a melodramatic preteen girl. And I moved away from you because I kind of…" He coughed. "…well, stink."

Hana chuckled.

"These are the perks of being a new student…" Her mind went blank for a moment. "…uh, Tai, is it?"

He nodded.

"As a new student, you don't know anyone, so you can't judge them."

"I guess that's some luck added to my day," said Tai, unconvincingly. He finished pressing buttons on his phone. "What's your number?"

Hana bit into her bottom lip.

"Could we exchange email addresses instead?" she proposed. "I don't have a working cell phone right now, unless you want an international number and a huge phone bill."

Tai looked blankly down at the blinking cursor on his phone for the new contact page he had just made. His teeth clenched slightly. It sure would have helped him along if she had mentioned that _before_ he had made the new entry.

"Sure…" He forced it out through his teeth.

They exchanged email addresses on torn slips of paper from Hana's notebook and ended their conversation with possible meeting days to get their project started.

"My dad and I are still settling in," said Hana. "So I'm not sure if any time during the rest of the week would work. But everything's still up in the air."

"That's fine," Tai replied. "I'm not in any huge rush to get this thing going, especially with my actual project still at home."

"Okay." Hana took a step backwards, preparing her departure. "Well, I've got something to go to, so we'll discuss this via email."

"Yeah, sure."

She stopped and thought for a minute before extending her hand to Tai, who looked down at it with raised eyebrows as if it were a tentacle.

"It was a pleasure to meet you, Tai," she said. Bemused, he took her hand and limply shook it.

"Yeah, you too," he replied tentatively.

She let go and smiled.

"I hope the rest of your day isn't so bad."

He laughed.

"Yeah, well, you'll find out tomorrow."

She left, then, scurrying down the hallway while he turned the corner and went down another on his way to the soccer field, his step considerably lighter in stride.


	3. Three

**A/N: Apologies for the late update. Lots of background on my OC in this chapter. And also lots of ballet. Consider it my attempt to meld _Black Swan_ with _Digimon_. (haha, kidding!) Is she a Mary Sue? I would contend not, but mine isn't the only opinion out there. Or maybe it's too soon to judge anyway. So… read at your own peril. **

xXx

THREE

xXx

**H**ana Kurosawa looked nervously down at her wristwatch, her free hand, meanwhile, readjusting its grip on the subway pole she was holding. The pink duffel bag slung over her shoulder bumped into her side occasionally, but at least its mere size gave her some space between herself and the people crammed about her. She hadn't had the time to change out of her school uniform and was still very self-conscious about her empurpled knees. The floor beneath her swayed a bit as the subway car sped on through a dark tunnel, and gravity made her knock into the person squeezed behind her. She murmured an apology which went unheard and braced herself for more unsteady rocks and teeters before she reached her destination.

This was, perhaps, not the best way for her to spend her Friday evening. Everyone on the subway had either had a tough week of work or a tough week of school and people desperately wanted to get home. She always happened to pick the worst time to travel.

The metro gradually slowed and Hana grew alert as she expected her stop, glancing at her watch again to check the time. As the announcement was made and the doors to the halted tram _ping_-ed open, Hana pushed her way out, shoving her elbow into a few backs before she stepped on solid concrete again. She was half-anticipating comments on her rude behavior but she herself had received a few pokes in the rib during her exit.

"All right," she said to herself as she went to the closest directory and peered at the color-coded map of the neighborhood. "Tokyo Dance Academy…" she mumbled to herself.

Narrowing her eyes on street names, she at last placed her index finger on a spot in the tangle of colored webs and after recounting in her head the turns she would have to make, made for the escalator that would take her back up to the city's surface, her steps quickening.

When at last she passed through the doors of Tokyo's Dance Academy, she was at a near sprint, her petite body running through hallways and past ongoing dance classes as her eyes searched for the office of Mrs. Nakamura, the company dance director.

After she made a wrong turn, she pivoted around to go back the way she came only to catch the very person she was seeking pass her on the way to a practice room. Hana flew after the academy director like a frantic bird and breathlessly yelled out the woman's name.

"Mrs. Nakamura!"

The summoned woman paused mid-step and expertly turned on her heel to meet the panicked girl running up to meet her.

While Hana stopped to catch her breath, Mrs. Nakamura looked down at her with a raised eyebrow. The dance director was a small, thin woman, with black hair streaked with grey pulled tightly into a high bun. Her eyes were dark and serious, and her face sallow and abnormally tight.

"Miss Kurosawa, I assume?" she said.

Hana bowed low, embarrassed.

"I'm sorry I'm late. I underestimated the commute from school to home to here." She raised her head, some strands of her dark brown hair falling loose from the now askew headband on her head. "Am I too late for my interview? Or should we reschedule it?"

Mrs. Nakamura narrowed her eyes on the young dancer before looking down at the silver watch on her dainty wrist, her thin lips twisting somewhat. Hana felt the scrutiny of her eyes like a pile of leaves would feel a rake. Her palms dampened.

"I have a few minutes, Miss Kurosawa," said Mrs. Nakamura, at length. "I have a class to teach, however, so your audition will have to wait until after. I take it by your dress you haven't warmed up?"

Hana cast her gaze down at her green school uniform.

"No, ma'am," she said.

"Very well. We'll talk in my office for a few minutes first, then you may get changed in one of the bathrooms and then go to room ten. You may warm-up with the girls in my class. Now, let us walk. I have a few questions to ask you."

The older woman led Hana to her office located in a narrow, dim corridor and had the girl sit in a chair before a large and old mahogany desk before taking the seat opposite her.

Mrs. Nakamura flipped through a few pages from a packet of papers, Hana meanwhile observing, with widened green eyes, the various photographs of ballerinas hung up on the wall.

"I've had a chance to look over your résumé, Miss Kurosawa," said Nakamura, the sound of her voice plucking Hana from her reverie. "And I am, to say the least, impressed. You have been training in ballet for how long now?" She spoke without looking up from the document in her hands.

Hana cleared her throat.

"Since I was eight," she said quietly.

"But you did _not_ enroll in a ballet school, am I correct?"

Hana nodded.

"Yes. My parents didn't want me to commit to any ballet company or school blindly, and they also thought that it would be better if they separated my dance education from my academic one."

Mrs. Nakamura _tsk_-ed softly to herself.

"It's a shame, really. You are advanced. I can tell that by your list of awards and by the very years you've invested in the art. But I think you'd be even better if you devoted your attentions entirely to ballet."

The comment made Hana squirm in her seat, and she could afford only an uneasy smile at the suggestion.

"From what ballet competitions you have entered," Mrs. Nakamura continued, "you've won several bronze and silver and one gold. Had you been in a ballet school, I am certain your gold medals would be far more abundant."

Before she could check herself, Hana laughed, a bit too loudly, to release the discomfort she was feeling.

"I doubt that," she said. "Took me ten years to finally get a gold medal. I don't think any amount of practice would have changed that."

Mrs. Nakamura was not amused.

"Nonsense," she clucked. "You cannot mean to tell me, Miss Kurosawa, that you want to practice with the professionals here and yet doubt your abilities to win a competition. It's a bit underhanded… and not in a good way."

"I didn't mean—"

The papers in Mrs. Nakamura's hands were set abruptly down on her desk top and she rose just as suddenly from her seat.

"We'll have to continue this conversation later, Miss Kurosawa. My students are waiting for me. Change and then meet us at the appointed practice room."

Wordlessly, Hana nodded, following the dance director out before changing course to locate the nearest bathroom. She changed out of her school uniform and donned on what was like a second skin to her: tights, a wrap skirt and a camisole leotard. Her hands removed the headband she had been wearing all day and swiftly scooped and pulled up her long hair into a tight pony tail. The shoes came next, and after taking off the ballet flats she had worn to school, she briefly massaged her toes, and then laced up a pair of her worn _pointe_ shoes.

She walked into the dance room greeted by a wind of chatter and several pairs of adolescent eyes. All of the dancers already gathered in the room were girls, some her age, some looking a few years younger. They were in the middle of _barre_ exercises, all of them lined up against the mirrored wall that ran the length of the room, feet together and arms extended out in second position.

"Girls," said Mrs. Nakamura, beckoning for Hana to move forward with a curled forefinger. "This is Miss Hana Kurosawa. She is classically trained in ballet and will be warming up with us today. Perhaps she may also show us how to do the different positions of the _arabesque_, which we will be working on."

The many pairs of eyes that set on her person made Hana feel uncomfortable with the mixed looks of awe and jealousy. She could only wave at her temporary practice partners with a flimsy bending of the wrist.

"Make room for her at the _barre_."

Hana dumped her pink duffel bag somewhere in the pile of other similar totes and satchels in a corner of the room before approaching the girls. A space was made for Hana, and she slid into the line of ballerinas-in-training, standing behind a thin girl with short, light brown hair. Once she was settled, the _barre_ exercises recommenced, and she fell quickly into the routine she had been practicing for as long as she could remember: the bending of the knees into a _plié_, the swinging of her pointed foot in front of her, beside and behind, the gliding of her curled toes in a round sweep. _Pliés_, _tendus_, _ronde de jambes_ done all to the beat of Mrs. Nakamura's tapping foot.

When the class moved on to exercises in the center of the room, Hana, to her mortification, was Mrs. Nakamura's elected example and had her demonstrate the four _arabesque_ positions which the rest of the girls in class had been practicing. The first time she was asked to display the _arabesque_ forms, she had gone too quickly and left the other dancers not only confused, but intimidated.

"Slower, Miss Kurosawa," commanded Mrs. Nakamura. "These girls take ballet as a hobby, not as a possible career."

Hana smiled through tight teeth and redid her demonstrations, careful to execute each position in as _adagio_ a manner as possible. The rest of the class was spent practicing the ubiquitous ballet position, and Hana was recruited to assist any students who needed or wanted help.

"Miss Kurosawa, one of my students is in need of your aid. Please go to her," ordered Mrs. Nakamura while she helped another student balance on one leg.

"Who?" said Hana stupidly, turning her head from the group of students back to her instructor.

"One of my students," replied Mrs. Nakamura agitatedly. "Kari, raise your hand."

One of the dancers in the middle of the room lifted a skinny limb and with a nod, Hana went to the dancer in need and realized it was the same girl she had stood behind at the _barre_.

"Hi," said Hana. "You're having some trouble?"

"A little, yes," said Kari. "I'm having difficulty keeping balance on my leg while I lift the other up."

Hana took a step back and inspected Kari's form, noticing that the girl's knee was shaking as it struggled to hold up her weight.

"Here," said Hana. "Start from a _plié_. Extend your arms forward, reach out slightly. Good. Then put your left foot behind you in _degage derriere_. Perfect. Now, slowly move your arm to the side, gradually raise your left leg. Stretch it a bit farther. Now hold. Good."

Kari held the position for as long as she could before putting her foot back down.

"Did that make things any easier?" asked Hana, doubting her teaching ability.

"A little. I think the _plié_ at the start makes my leg more ready to hold the weight instead of going into position from a straight stand."

"Oh, good." Hana was relieved. "I thought it didn't help at all. I've just always thought that doing these exercises in motion helps since, well, you actually _do_ them while moving."

"That makes sense. Should I practice again?"

"Go for it."

Class ended an hour later. The other ballerinas gathered their duffel bags and scurried out of the room while Hana stayed behind with Mrs. Nakamura, her long awaited audition about to take place. When the room was cleared, Hana, breathing silently (but rapidly), waited for the dance director to speak.

"Do you know any routines by heart?" asked Mrs. Nakamura.

"A few," said Hana. "I had to memorize some for competitions."

"Which ones?"

Hana thought for a moment, her right foot doing a _tendu en avant_ on instinct.

"Swanhilda's solo in Act Three of _Coppélia_."

"Let me see it."

Hana positioned herself in the corner of the room, counting the music's beat in her head. The routine she was about to perform was the same one that earned her her first gold medal. She inhaled deeply before giving a nod to Mrs. Nakamura and taking the first steps of her audition.

xXx

Mrs. Nakamura had just exited the practice room, Hana staying behind as she processed the information the older woman had just told her. Her hands were on her hips, her chest heaving from the routine she had just performed. She cleared her throat as she attempted to steady the racing tempo of her heartbeat and paced about the center of the room, still ruminating on the decision Mrs. Nakamura had made.

She was only disrupted when the door to the room opened and in walked the student she had helped earlier.

Kari approached cautiously, a pink duffel bag in her hand.

"Sorry to bother you, Hana, but my friend accidentally gave me your bag instead of my own. I guess they look similar."

With raised eyebrows, Hana looked from the bag in Kari's hands to the only bag left in the room, which was cast off somewhere in a corner. She walked up to the discarded duffel and opened it. Sure enough, her uniform was not in it, though she was amused by the fact that it was the same pink bag with prints of ballet shoes on it.

She took the bag and walked up to Kari, handing it to her with a smile while she received her real duffel.

"You have good taste in ballet equipment," said Hana in greeting.

Kari laughed behind a hand.

"Thanks. Though, I have to admit, some of my friends and I stayed behind and watched you dance through the door window."

Hana shrugged and looked at the door which had suddenly become a performance outlet.

"I thought I saw a few heads peeking in. You didn't see much, let me tell you."

"I thought you did fine," Kari said cheerily. "My friends and I couldn't stop talking about how we wanted to dance _en pointe_ like you."

Hana wriggled her toes in the boxes of her _pointe_ slippers and laughed.

"It may look beautiful but it is downright hard on your toes, though I'm sure Mrs. Nakamura will find you all ready for _pointe_ work soon."

"We all hope so." Kari paused and then jerked a thumb over her shoulder. "Well, I'd better head out. It was nice meeting you. And thanks for the help with the _arabesque_! I'll try your method over the weekend."

"You, too. And thanks for bringing me my bag. I'd have looked really odd taking the metro in _pointe_ shoes."

With a wave, Kari left the room, Hana exiting as well shortly afterwards. She changed back into her uniform and went out into the warm, summer night, pink duffel bag hanging from her arm.

"Week one, down," she said to herself as she made the nightly trek back to the subway station. "And I guess it wasn't too bad. Mrs. Nakamura may not find me ready to practice with the corps, but she is still giving me more liberties than other ballet students. We'll see how week two goes." She sighed and rubbed a hand over her face, realizing how tired she was. "_Mon Dieu_," she moaned. "I hope things get better."

xXx

It was nine-thirty in the morning. Hana Kurosawa looked down at the slip of paper in her hands as she exited the metro and took an escalator back up to the city's cement surface. Taking another ride on Tokyo's hectic subway system was not what she planned on doing Saturday morning, but she had already agreed to meet with Tai to get their project started. He had emailed her the night before about possibly getting together, and although her audition with Mrs. Nakamura didn't turn out the way she desired, she decided to oblige her science partner nonetheless.

The bright sun poured down from above and Hana shielded her green eyes from the rays, her hand in salute position on her forehead. With her gaze still fixed on the address written on the paper she held, she fell into step with other commuters going about their usual weekend activities and errands. The sun was hot on her dark hair, and she crossed the street into a residential area, where she gazed at several large apartment complexes and a small patch of park.

Buildings in the city were highly modernized, she found, and she often forgot that there was an elevator in her own apartment building that she was supposed to use. Taking the stairs was more common for her, yet to do so in Tokyo was often impractical. Buildings here were several stories high, apartment complexes especially. She looked up at the nearest apartment building, her head craning back as she counted the number of floors. In the distance, she could hear the sound of children laughing in the park, muffled by the occasional whirr of a passing car.

She looked back down at the paper in her hand and entered the nearest apartment building, dodging any entrance protocol by sneaking in past the doors when a resident left the edifice. She remembered to bypass the stairwell and went straight for the elevator, adjusting the backpack she had been carrying throughout her commute while waiting for the elevator doors to open.

As she reached her desired floor, she slowly scanned apartment numbers on doors, searching for the name "Kamiya." Her feet came to a halt when she at last located the Kamiya family apartment, and, stepping up onto the doormat, rang the bell.

"Kari! Can you get that?"

Hana heard Tai's call even from her place outside the door, her ears suddenly twitching at the name. Before she could even wonder if the Kari mentioned was the same she had met the day before, the apartment door gave way and Hana received her answer.

"Hi," welcomed Kari, smiling. Upon getting a better look at their guest, Kari's thin eyebrows furrowed before easing back into the generally happy look that often defined her.

"Hi, Kari," said Hana, grinding the toe of her shoe into the doormat. "Well," she said, smiling uneasily, "isn't this funny?"

"Ironic, really," said Kari, stepping aside to let Hana enter.

"What's funny?" The question came from Tai, who emerged from his room with a textbook. He moseyed up to the girls while Hana took off her shoes.

"Um…" Hana looked up from untying the laces of her sneakers. "Your sister and I have actually met."

Tai looked at Kari, one eyebrow raised in curiosity.

"We met yesterday during my ballet class. Hana warmed up with me and the other ballet students," his sister explained. "And now she's here again."

"Ballet, huh?" said Tai, turning his attention to Hana.

"Yeah," she replied slowly, unwilling to elaborate. She scratched an imaginary itch on her head. "Oh, by the way, I'm not, you know, stalking your family or anything," said Hana, attempting to humor her hosts. "Just to make things clear."

Brother and sister chuckled at the clarification.

"No worries. It happens all the time," joked Tai, gesturing for his science partner to follow him.

"To you or to your sister?" Hana asked, amused.

"Me, of course."

"Oh, brother," Kari murmured, shaking her head. "I'll let you two work, though go easy on the jokes, Tai. You might scare Hana away, and it'd be nice having someone to talk about ballet with." She retreated to her bedroom, leaving her brother and Hana alone to discuss their project.

Tai had his scanty science notes and textbook gathered at the computer desk in the living room, and he took a seat in the desk chair, offering another seat he had pulled from the dining table for Hana to sit in beside him.

"So…" he said, leaning back in his chair, the seat swiveling back and forth slightly, "I was thinking we could pick a topic today and then have the rest of the week doing the research we need for our proposal. Any ideas?"

Hana looked blankly at him for a brief second, her teeth biting into her nether lip.

"Honestly, Tai? I haven't looked at the packet Mr. Tokoya gave me. Are there any restrictions on topics?"

"They have to be related to one of the units we've learned throughout the trimester," he said, slightly surprised that she hadn't read the details of the assignment. A bead of sweat formed at the edge of his forehead. If he was going to be the leader of the project, his chances of getting a better grade suddenly became _very_ slim.

"Okay," said Hana. She leaned forward in her seat, crossing her legs and resting her elbow on her knee, chin in palm. "What was the last unit you guys learned?"

"Astronomy."

"Maybe we could do something with that."

Tai looked with frowning lips at the pile of notes he had on that unit. It was a whopping three pages high.

"I didn't do too hot with Astronomy."

"It's okay. I happen to like the subject. Plus, if it's the last thing Mr. Tokoya taught, it's still fresh in his memory, and I think he'd view it as an extension of what he so recently taught you all. He might even be flattered."

She looked at Tai, pleased with her suggestion and expressing it through a grin, and he could only stare back at her, his eyes narrowing in suspicion and his lips pursing somewhat.

"You manipulate your teachers often?" he asked, in jest.

Hana shrugged, taking the tease in stride.

"I kind of have to if I want to pass."

Tai felt his jaw unhinge at the admission. Did this new girl just confess her shady means of attaining academic success?

"Wow."

"N-No," she said hurriedly, quick to justify herself. She grew flustered at the look of disbelief on his face. "Not because I'm a crappy student, but because I… well… sometimes other things are more important than school."

Tai remained unconvinced, his open mouth closing into a smug smirk.

"Like…?"

Hana shifted nervously in her seat.

"Ballet," she mumbled.

He laughed.

"Really?"

"Yeah, really," she replied dully, annoyed at his incredulity. "We should focus on our project."

"Touchy subject, I'm guessing?" Tai said, unknowingly aggravating Hana more. He would have been better off if he had just taken the hint and kept their conversation professional.

Hana winced slightly at the obvious goad. She decided to be civil.

"You've no idea," she said, almost darkly. "Now… our project…"

"Right."

Tai turned the computer on and opened up a browser to search for possible astronomy topics.

About an hour afterward, the two had finally decided on their chosen subject for their collaborative science project. After their web surfing yielded little for them to work with, Hana suggested looking up images related to space in the hope that looking at pictures would inspire them. Tai was dubious, (as he realized he often was in the company of his partner), but went along with it anyway. They scrolled through endless rows of images of galaxies and stars when Hana spotted a hypothetical rendering of a black hole and suggested the possibility of doing a project on it.

"There's tons of mystery around them," she said, looking at the picture on the computer screen like a little girl eyeing a doll in a toy shop window. "I'm sure we can find a lot of interesting information about them. I read about a theory out there saying that the center of the Milky Way is a black hole—or many black holes. We could do something with that, even. How's that sound?"

She veered her stare to her science partner, who sat slumped in his swivel chair, arms crossed and eyebrows wrinkled as they seemed to glare in frustration at the computer screen.

"Did I mention that I kind of failed the test on this unit? And, well, doesn't this all sound a bit… complex?" he said at last, his face contorted.

"Well…er… yes. There's a lot of theory and not a lot of fact, but that's the fun of it. We can't _really_ be wrong about anything if everything we talk about is, in fact, simply theory."

"That's kind of a sneaky way to put it," replied Tai, remaining unconvinced.

Hana attempted to enlighten him.

"I manipulate my teachers, remember?" she said, smirking.

Tai laughed, though a bit condescendingly this time.

"Hana, Mr. Tokoya is a no-nonsense teacher. I don't think any of your tricks will get past him."

Hana countered him readily, as if she expected his doubt.

"Then we'd better do a darn good job with our project, Tai. Now, black holes. Let's punch it into the search engine. Time's a-wasting."


	4. Four

**A/N: I appreciate your reviews! Thank you very much for the feedback! Nothing too exciting in this chapter. Just some more background on my OC. The next chapter should be fun, though. Why? Well, I can't say… **

xXx

FOUR

xXx

**I**t was odd walking into school on Monday morning. Tai fussed incessantly with the new contraption around his neck, something he had never bothered to put on since entering high school. He was spotted yanking at the tie around his neck by Matt, who sauntered up to him, whatever friendly mockery he had planned already in execution.

"Whoa, look at you," he said with a grin. Tai glowered at him, his nose flaring slightly at the charade. "Mr. Classy. You never put that thing on before. Why do it now?"

"My mom wouldn't let me leave home without it," Tai grunted, poking two fingers into his shirt collar and tugging hard. "Apparently she couldn't get the orange stain off of my uniform shirt, and she wouldn't have me wear a stained shirt to school again. The tie is supposed to cover it up."

"Don't you have other shirts?"

"My mom didn't wash them… which, looking back on it, I think she did on purpose."

Matt chuckled.

"What for?"

"Beats me. Though I'm thinking she had an alternate reason for making me go to school in a tie." He thought back to the events of the weekend, which included his mother meeting Hana Kurosawa Saturday morning.

"You could always just take it off, you know."

"What do you think I'm trying to do?"

The duo made their walk to Mr. Tokoya's science class, Tai still struggling to get the new article of clothing off. He didn't know how to tie one himself, and he hadn't paid attention to his mother when she forcefully wrapped the thing around his neck, but he was certain that a tie shouldn't be impossible to remove.

"So how'd your meeting with Hana go Saturday?" asked Matt when they had settled into their seats. "You didn't talk about it after my show that night. You still glad Mr. Tokoya gave you a second chance?"

Hana was not present yet, and so Tai found it safe to speak truthfully about his most recent encounter with his science partner. He laid down the minor details of the meeting first. Hana came over, she happened to already be buddies with his sister, they looked up topics on astronomy, his mom came in from her errands, introductions were made, and then after settling on the topic, they chose a future meeting time, and then she left.

"Though, I'm having mixed feelings," admitted Tai. He gave up on the tie for the time being and let it hang miserably from his neck. "We're doing our project on black holes, and you know I failed the test on astronomy. Also, she's kind of bossy."

Matt smirked.

"Coming from the guy who always gives the orders. Better her taking charge than you. You'd fail both her and yourself."

"Hey! I'd at the most get us a D," Tai said defensively.

"Only you would be happy at this stage in our schooling for a barely passing grade. We're only a few years from university, remember?"

Tai wiped a hand over his tired face.

"Please, don't remind me."

The late bell rang, and with it came the last stragglers, Hana being one of them as she scampered down the narrow aisles between desks and took her seat behind her project partner.

"Nice tie," she said casually, in passing.

Tai's eyes widened at the comment.

"You think so?" he said. The delay in his reaction caused Matt to stifle a laugh in the row next to his. Tai had turned around in his seat to face Hana when he spoke, and she shrugged a shoulder.

"Yeah, I guess," she responded nonchalantly, shrugging as she took her notebook out of her bookbag.

Their conversation was cut short when Mr. Tokoya entered the room, and Tai faced forward in his seat, a look of confusion sweeping his face. The compliment was a definite first. He didn't exactly have a reputation amongst his peers as a neat and well-dressed guy.

To add more to his bewilderment, Hana did not end up being the only school girl who commented on his changed appearance. Several other female classmates in his various other classes had remarked on the new addition to his normally plain and shabby outfit. The first few instances had stunned him. Usually it was rock-star Matt who received all the admiring gazes, but by the time the fifth compliment came around, Tai had become a firm believer of his newfound classiness, going so far as to brush off such flattery as if it was part of his daily routine. On their way to lunch, Matt caught up with Tai and swung an arm over his friend's shoulders.

"Dude, if wearing a tie gets you that kind of attention from girls, maybe I'll just start wearing one to school, too."

Tai grinned broadly, the two of them marching down the hallways as if they were kings.

"Yeah, it kind of does wonders," he said, giving a nod to a fellow soccer teammate who had passed by.

"I'll have to get Sora's opinion on it first. You think she'll like me in a tie?" Matt remarked. The comment barely registered in Tai's ears.

"Why don't you put one on and find out?" he said snarkily. He highly doubted Sora being interested in giving Matt fashion advice. Frankly, the girl herself could use a few pointers, especially with the hair accessories she put on every now and then, not to mention the hats.

Their conversation on ties continued to the cafeteria, where, after a trip through the lunch line, they made way to their lunch table, Tai disrupting a conversation between Sora and Izzy about their computer programming homework when he plopped his lunch tray on the tabletop.

"Izzy," said Tai, "I'm thinking that you had the right idea about wearing ties to school. Talk about the attention getter."

"The difference is that you wear it as a fashion statement," replied Izzy matter-of-factly. He hesitated to say more. Tai had, after all, rudely interrupted his talk with Sora. "And I wear it to look professional in school," he finished.

Tai shook his head slightly, chuckling throughout.

"Pfft. Who needs to look professional in school? This isn't a job. Though I _wish_ I was being paid to listen to Mr. Tokoya talk." He dug into his food, which Izzy took as a confirmation that the topic of discussion was over for the time being. His lips parted to resume his conversation with Sora, when it was Matt's turn to pick up the subject.

"So professionalism is your excuse, Koushiro?" he said, grinning. "What would Mimi say about that?"

He nudged Sora with his elbow, knowing that he had touched a nerve by bringing in their distant fashion expert. Sora laughed lightly.

"I'm just stating the facts, Matt," Izzy replied calmly, albeit turning pink. "And I don't know what Mimi would say. She's in America."

"So that's your excuse?" Tai said abruptly, looking up at him while he was still chewing his food.

Izzy frowned.

Sora, while surely entertained by their resident computer whiz's mortification, couldn't help but feel misplaced in their current choice of discussion. Being the only girl at the table, she suddenly felt the absence of their table's newest addition, and she gave Matt a nudge on the shoulder. Hana's lack of presence had gone entirely unnoticed by the rest of the boys at the table, who were clearly too busy lightheartedly insulting each other to care about a missing new student. Matt, however, understood the obligation entailed by his girlfriend's inquiry, and he took a few seconds to scan the cafeteria to see if he could spot Hana.

"Hmm…" he said. "I don't see her. Maybe Miss Kurosawa is…?" He fished for a reason.

"Sitting at another table?" suggested Tai. He remembered seeing her being pursued by some of the school's basketball players when he was switching classes.

"Kurosawa?" echoed Izzy, suddenly interested in their conversation. "Did you say her surname is Kurosawa?"

"Yeah," replied Matt. "Why?"

Izzy looked down at his lunch, his forehead wrinkling in deep thought.

"Nothing," he said. "It just sounds familiar."

"I hope we didn't scare her off," Sora said, though her contribution didn't seem to mean much to the boys at the table. Matt and Tai had picked up a conversation about their gym class, and Izzy still looked too disconcerted for Sora to pluck him out of his profound ponderings. She wisely decided not to bring the topic up again, though she continued to wonder why Hana had not joined them at their table. She was still thinking about it when she headed off to physical education, which she and Hana shared. Surely they didn't give off _that_ bad an impression, did they?

Sora eventually resolved to talk to Hana about it, just to clarify things. She would have been lying, anyway, if she said she didn't like having another girl at the table. She missed having Mimi around, and while it was true that she didn't always have to sit with Matt, Tai and Izzy (she could have very well had lunch with her tennis teammates), she knew it wouldn't be the same. The boys were good company, but another girl to balance their table dynamic a bit wouldn't hurt.

She caught a glimpse of Hana's white headband as she walked into the locker room to change, and, sure enough, as Sora approached her gym locker, Hana was there, taking off her school flats and donning on gym socks.

"Hey, Hana," Sora greeted, taking a seat beside her on a bench. "We missed you at our lunch table today."

"Oh, yeah," said Hana, a tad bashfully. "Sorry about that. I had to meet with my guidance counselor about scheduling for next trimester. Apparently some credits from my old school aren't transferring when I was told they would be, so we're trying to sort that out so that I can still graduate on time."

"Oh," said Sora, gladdened by the answer. "I thought the boys had scared you away. Though, I'm sorry about your scheduling problems. Let me know how things go."

"Thanks, but everything should turn out okay. And, look! I finally got my gym uniform!" She waved the garments in the air. "I can join in the class activities rather than sit on the sidelines, watching."

The girls then filed into the gymnasium to warm-up, meeting up with the other students in their class. Hana heard a few girls complaining about the unit they were studying, gymnastics, while the boys got to play volleyball outside. She followed Sora's example and sat down on a large mat to stretch.

"I didn't know gym here was segregated," Hana observed as she lay her legs out in a 'v' and bent full forward, her abdomen lying parallel to her straightened leg.

Sora stared at her in short wonder before replying, still slightly awed and grossed out by Hana's flexibility.

"Um… well, I don't really know why it is," she said. "It's always been that way here. Why? Was it not where you come from?"

"Nope." Hana paused and raised her head, the headband she was wearing slipping out of place. "The stretching is freaking you out isn't it?"

"N-No," said Sora, lying. "It's great that you're so flexible!"

Hana gave her a look.

"Okay," conceded Sora. "So, maybe it's a little weird?"

Hana laughed afterwards, resuming her stretching.

"I completely agree," she said brightly. "I still freak my dad out when I'm stretching in the house. He calls me a contortionist."

She stood up, then, and stretched her arms up before planting her feet a few feet apart on the mat and gradually easing into a straddle split. Sora continued to look on, seemingly growing more and more uncomfortable around her new friend.

"Don't you think that's a little much?" she said, quietly. She herself wasn't a wooden board when it came to stretching, but she didn't outright do _splits_ in front of everybody.

"What is?" Hana asked, apparently misunderstanding the question. She soon got clarification on it not from Sora, but from some other girls in their class who passed by them.

"Look at that circus freak," she heard one of them whisper—loudly—to another girl.

Instead of closing her legs immediately to avoid looking anymore the piece of rubber, Hana remained seated in her straddle split, arms folding across her chest. Her green eyes narrowed on the turned backs of her insulters for a short second before blinking out the sting of irritation.

"Sorry," Hana mumbled lowly, shifting her gaze to Sora. She smiled feebly. "These are just the stretches I'm used to doing. I'll tone it down. I don't want to be labeled the class freak during my second week of school here." Hana attempted to remain cheery and feigned a laugh, but it was the uncertain giggle, the kind that wavered mid-chuckle before dying off.

Sora flushed red for unintentionally contributing to Hana's subdued mortification. She could only utter a meek, agreeable "Yeah," before resuming her own stretch routine.

Hana, meanwhile, muttered some incomprehensible insult under her breath at the girl who had provided some unwanted commentary on her flexibility. It had been a long while since she'd had to explain the reasons behind her "freakish" elasticity. She had already been labeled as the 'ballerina' at her old school, but no one knew who she was or what she did at the school she was now attending, and Hana was unwilling to make the effort to make that fact known. The basketball players that hounded her during one change of classes kept asking her if she was going to do a sport, unaware that she already had one: ballet. One even suggested cheerleading.

She hadn't grown up with these people, yet the people who knew her were thousands of miles away. New friends and acquaintances would have to the fill the void in her social life, and she wouldn't make any if she didn't try to be agreeable to everybody.

It was something her father had told her consistently since they moved to Tokyo. _Be accepting_. The culture was different. The people were different. The food, too, was different. School, too, was much harder than she had anticipated. Homework was abundant, and she understood less than half of her assignments. The intensity of the education system in Japan made her wonder how she ever managed to get her credits transferred. And yet, this was the life she now had to live. Adapt, or be miserable. She had already been miserable the months previous to her move. It would help her little to continue complaining.

Plus, she should have considered herself lucky for finding a friend in Sora, who, despite knowing her for a few days, was kind enough to be honest with her rather than lie. She appreciated that sincerity, which was always given tactfully though kindly.

It was another matter, however, to be accepting of the fact that, regardless of being in school for a total of three days, she was already failing her computer science class. Based on her in-class performances alone, her teacher informed her that she would need a tutor or else risk failing a course she needed to graduate. Summer school was already a given for her, but to add computer programming into her list of summer classes would be social suicide—not that she had any friends to have a life outside of school. Circumstance demanded that she say "Yes" now, and let her sleep schedule suffer later.

The news was nonetheless upsetting, and it was with a low head and a sullen look that Hana accepted her teacher's terms.

"I am more than happy to work with a tutor to help me through the class," she said, a smile plastered to her lips.

"Good. I'm glad you agree, especially since you've only been in class three days. However, I think it is better to start the tutoring earlier rather than later, yes? You have a lot to catch up on if you want to pass the class, and I have just the computer science student in mind to assist you."

xXx

Matt walked briskly down the hallway, almost leaving behind Tai, who was accompanying him. The school bell had just rung, and while normally Matt would have gone off to band practice and Tai, to soccer, the two needed to see Izzy before heading to their respective extracurriculars; or, rather, Matt needed to meet with Izzy. Tai had invited himself along.

"Okay," said Matt, turning a hallway corner. "So Izzy wasn't by his locker, and he wasn't in Computer Club, which means he's probably in one of the computer labs."

Tai caught up with him, munching on a candy bar he had gotten from a vending machine. It would at least give him a slight sugar rush to start off soccer practice, which, as team captain, he'd have to lead.

"What is so important that you need to see him immediately?" he asked. "You're walking like you have ants in your pants."

"I asked Yolei a few weeks ago to clean up the audio of a mixtape that my band and I threw together. She had somewhere to go today, so she said she'd leave it with Izzy."

After poking his head into a few of the computer labs, Matt at last spotted Izzy's red head through a door window and knocked gently on the closed classroom door. Izzy turned, saw Matt give him a wave, and signaled back to him to wait outside.

"Koushiro."

The teacher's voice brought Izzy's attention back to the matter being discussed and he quickly veered his dark eyes away from the door.

"So you'll help Hana with her programming until she—at least—has a B average on her class assignments. Now," he said, taking note of the two figures loitering outside his classroom, "I see you have some guests. I'll leave you two to discuss any arrangements."

Matt and Tai stepped into the room in time to hear Izzy utter a word of agreement with the computer science teacher who shortly thereafter left the room. Hana and Izzy remained standing in their spots by the teacher's desk, Hana clutching a textbook to her chest and Izzy blinking wide-eyed at his friends, both of whom stared back at him with arched eyebrows.

Matt broke the silence first.

"So, Izzy, did Yolei hand you my mixtape? She said—"

"Yeah, I've got it right here." Izzy reached behind into his backpack and pulled out a CD case.

As the exchange was made between Matt and Izzy, Tai spoke, his brown eyes shifting from Izzy to Hana and eventually staying on the latter.

"So what are you two in here for?"

"Oh," began Hana, a tad clumsily, "I'm failing my computer science class, and my teacher recruited Izzy to tutor me, which, the more I think about it, makes less and less sense. My father would be so ashamed of me."

Izzy turned to her, a corner of his mouth kicking up in a smirk.

"I'm assuming his talents didn't transfer to you."

Hana laughed and in a nervous tic, scratched the back of her head while grinning sheepishly.

"You're definitely right about that one."

"Wait a minute…" Matt said, joining their conversation. He gestured at Izzy. "So… you know her dad?" It surprised him at how conversational Izzy and Hana sounded to each other. They had only met a few days ago and, at most, exchanged six words—most of them hellos and goodbyes.

"Not personally, no," answered Izzy, ignoring the look of confusion on Matt's face. "I was wondering why the name Kurosawa sounded so familiar, and, sure enough, I've came across it before. Hana's father is a renowned computer scientist. Jiro Kurosawa. He's actually teaching a few classes at the University of Tokyo right now as a guest professor."

"And you know this… how?" wondered Tai, uncommonly suspicious of how Izzy attained such information.

"There was an article about him in _Computer Magazine_," he explained bluntly. Izzy even pulled the issue from somewhere in his backpack, showing the article to Matt and Tai, much to Hana's chagrin. She put her face in her hands to hide her blush.

"Why am I not surprised you read that?" Tai remarked quietly, taking the magazine anyway and commencing to read the article. Matt hovered over his shoulder, his blue eyes skimming the page as well.

Hana took a step forward, feeling compelled to interrupt their strange interest in her father. "Is it weird that you are finding out about my dad from a magazine article rather than from his own daughter?" Hana asked, purposefully laughing to emphasize the ridiculousness of their behavior. None of the boys seemed to pay any attention to her. She rolled her eyes.

"You're French?" Matt raised his head as he asked the question, looking at her in anticipation of a confirmation or denial.

Hana's eyes widened and she came forward, grabbing hold onto the magazine and butting her head into Tai's reading view. He backed away from her dark hair with a bit of a snort.

"I was still reading, you know," he muttered. Hana ignored him.

"Where does it say that?" she demanded. "What has this article actually said about my father?"

"Why? Not everyone reads Computer Magazine, Hana. I doubt anybody else in the school knows about your dad," said Matt, attempting to calm her down. She did appear rather upset about the information leaked by the article.

"Well, I haven't actually read this article. In fact, I didn't know there _was_ an article about my dad in _Computer Magazine_. And here I thought my life was that of your average teenage girl."

"Hana, your dad is a leader in computer science," said Izzy. "My question is, how could you _not_ know?"

"That's just the thing, Izzy. My dad is a _computer scientist_. Growing up, I didn't exactly think that was a cool job. I mean, when you think 'computer scientist' you don't normally think 'magazine interview.' You think, 'boring man working in a cubicle in front of a computer.'"

"She does have a point," said Tai. "But the article does say, and I quote, 'Jiro Kurosawa, forty-seven, resides in Paris, France, with his wife, a former ballet dancer, and their daughter.' I'm guessing that's you."

Hana found the sentence Tai had just read and traced it with her forefinger.

"This article must be old," she said, her voice lowering. "Some of the facts are off. But, yes, for the record, I am from France, and, yes, I speak French, too."

"The reason I asked is because my grandfather's French," said Matt, with a smile. "He lives in Paris, too."

"How neat," Hana replied, not expecting such an answer from Matt. Though, the European grandfather did explain his blond hair and blue eyes. "Have you ever gone there to visit?" she asked.

"Yeah, when I was young. I haven't been recently, though my younger brother has. It's a beautiful city. Not to, you know, make you homesick or anything."

"Paris, huh?" Tai echoed, seemingly ruminating on the discovery. "That explains the ballet, then."

Hana smiled thinly, though her green eyes narrowed on Tai for a moment, almost to a squint.

"Still going on about that, eh, Tai? Not all French people do ballet or even like it."

"But ballet language is French, right?" he contended. "I mean, when Kari tells me about what she learned during classes, I don't understand a thing she's saying!"

"Then maybe you should practice your French, _oui_?"

Izzy and Matt chuckled at the smart retort, the latter giving Tai, who remained ill-amused, a happy pat on the shoulder. Hana saw the diversion as the perfect opportunity to make her exit, and, after uttering a barely audible, "Well, I'll be going," she gathered her things and left the room, glad to hear that the boys were still laughing without her.


	5. Five

**A/N: Thank you again for your reviews! Just to answer a few questions, though. The digimon will _not_ be in this fanfic. There may be mentions—some explicit, others not—of them, but they won't be playing any role in the story… which leads into another question. Is Hana aware of the Digimon? From an author's perspective, I'd like to say yes, but since it doesn't really matter if she does or doesn't, it's not important to know. But, anywho, here's the next chapter! **

xXx

FIVE

xXx

**A** warm breeze passed through Tai's hair on his way to the soccer field, bringing with it the fresh scent of newly mowed grass. He was dressed now in some athletic shorts and a tee, and was taking his precious time getting to the pitch even though he knew he was a little late due to his and Matt's detour in the computer lab with Hana and Izzy. He could see the rest of his teammates gathered on the field, huddled together before their new coach, Mr. Fukazawa. Their old coach had abandoned them mid-season for an opportunity to coach a college team, and so Mr. Fukazawa was a late addition to the coaching staff. Although he had been prepping them for a few weeks now, the team hadn't warmed up to him, mostly due to his methods. The complaints Tai received after every practice were endless, and although, as team captain, it was his job to act as a liaison between coach and team, most of his suggestions went unheard by Mr. Fukazawa, who stubbornly adhered to his training regimens.

He dropped his sports bag by a bench before jogging up to his fellow teammates on the pitch. Mr. Fukazawa graciously pointed out his tardiness.

"You're late, Kamiya. Again."

"Sorry, coach," said Tai with a shrug. "I forgot something in my locker."

Mr. Fukazawa remained standing before the group of teenage boys, his arms crossed and forefinger touching his goateed chin. He looked every bit the soccer coach—fit, middle-aged, with a wise and serious look about him, but his boys considered him, frankly, as a simpleton when it came to soccer.

"As your team captain has so blatantly demonstrated," began Fukazawa. He paced the white line edging the soccer field. "The problem with this team is that you all don't care enough—not enough about each other, about practices, and perhaps about the sport itself."

An unhappy murmur resounded about the boys, many of them folding their arms in reply or denying their coach's proclamation.

"It's clear that what I'm teaching you during practices isn't working," he continued. "Drastic measures will have to be taken, and I see that we'll have to take small steps towards our goals—literally." He clapped his hands once and loudly.

"We're not having practice on the pitch today, boys. We'll be headed elsewhere. I think you'd all benefit from outside instruction. Plus, it will be a great teambuilding exercise, which, judging by how poorly you play together, you all desperately need."

He motioned for them to pick up their bags and follow him to the parking lot. While the boys started moving, complaining throughout, Tai heard one protest clearly.

"What does he know? We play great as a team!"

Tai looked down to his left and saw his fellow friend and teammate, Davis Motomiya, shaking a fist at the turned back of their soccer coach.

"I'll do anything to get us out of this losing streak, Davis," commented Tai, taking up his sports bag and heading out toward the front of the line. He, too, observed that the team wasn't performing its best, but he wasn't sure if it was because Fukazawa was being disagreeable, or if his teammates were. Davis pursued him, still grumbling.

"What losing streak? It's just bad luck—or bad coaching. Besides, you're team captain, Tai. You should do something about this."

"If I do something about it, Davis, I won't be team captain any longer."

"Even if you don't do anything, you probably won't be captain much longer, anyway, with all the tardies you have under your belt. And if you get axed, I'll naturally take your place."

Tai scoffed, giving Davis a friendly shove for the smart comment.

"Nice try. I don't think Coach Fukazawa would even consider you captain material."

The two of them came to a halt when the rest of their team stopped, apparently awaiting the orders of Mr. Fukazawa. They stood beside a parked school bus, the same one they used when they had away games.

"Where are we going, coach?" a boy asked.

"Get in the bus and you'll find out. Everyone in."

The soccer team filed into the bus, Tai stepping in second to last in front of their coach. Davis entered right before him, muttering, "This is a waste of time," under his breath and continuing to murmur to himself once he sank into his seat. Tai made means to sit beside him but Mr. Fukazawa stopped him, saying, "Kamiya. With me. I've a few things to say to you."

_Great_, Tai thought, sitting beside his coach in a booth.

"This was the last time I'll be late," he said, figuring an impromptu apology would start their conversation off on the right foot.

"I'm not in the mood to lecture you, Kamiya," Fukazawa replied. "With the way things are going, I can't blame you for trying to skip out on part of practice."

Tai's face froze in its expression of uncertainty.

"Uh… Really?" he managed to say, after coughing deliberately to get the words flowing through his head again. Coach was being, of all things, understanding.

"Yes, really." Fukazawa rubbed his face in his hands, clearly exhausted not only with the practice, but with the team in general. "I already know the boys are going to hate me for what I have planned for them. You, too, but I'm going to need you to cooperate with me on this one, Tai."

"Why? You're not going to make us do something stupid like yoga or anything, right?"

Mr. Fukazawa grimaced.

"Well, not exactly…"

xXx

Hana walked into the dance studio with mixed feelings on her upcoming practice—if it could even be called such. She had received an email from Mrs. Nakamura that morning about her first 'practice' being at a local dance studio rather than at Tokyo Dance Academy. At first, Hana assumed the worst: Mrs. Nakamura found her audition to be so incredibly bad that she didn't even deserve to practice at the Academy, but she soon received clarification (and relief) on the subject from a subsequent email.

A sports team from a local high school was coming to do some ballet exercises, purportedly to not only improve their sense of balance, but to also build a better team dynamic. Such news was not uncommon to her. When she trained in Paris, athletes from various sports enlisted the help of her ballet instructors to improve their balance and agility. She and two other dancers (both from the company's corps de ballet) all happened to live nearby. Mrs. Nakamura thought it would be convenient if they all conducted the class instead of her travelling all the way from the other side of town to see a few school boys look awkward doing _pliés_.

Hana met the two other dancers when she was about to enter the studio. They were leaning against the side of the building, smoking cigarettes when Hana approached them and introduced herself.

"You the new dancer from France?" one had asked her, smiling as smoke rose from her red lips. Her voice was rich, though raspy, perhaps because of the smoke. Her brown hair was pulled tightly up in a bun, some scarlet, manicured fingernails capping the fingers that expertly balanced her cigarette. Hana figured that she couldn't have been older than twenty.

The other dancer didn't join the conversation and instead opted for silent scrutiny, a pair of violet eyes examining Hana behind a veil of tight, dark curls.

"Y-Yes," said Hana, fumbling over the word. "But she said I need to take a few classes with her advanced students before she finds me ready to dance with you all."

"Did she now?" she said, laughing. "That woman has a stick up her butt. If you trained in Paris, then I'm pretty sure you dance fine. Anyway, come on. We have to warm up before the soccer team arrives." With a flick of the wrist, she tossed the burnt end of her cigarette into a nearby ashtray. "By the way," she said, opening the door to the studio, "I'm Ren." She pointed at the other dancer walking beside her. "This is Emi. Feel free to ask us any questions about life at the company, but don't expect happy answers." She laughed hoarsely, her voice echoing down the studio hallways.

They changed into their ballet wear and were in the process of warming up in the dance room by the time they heard the stampede of footsteps resonating from the hallway.

"Looks like the wee boys are here," said Ren, smirking as she lifted her leg off the _barre_. She smacked the gum she was chewing, which she was notorious for doing during practices. After stretching long tan arms, she rose to her full height and cracked a few knots in her neck. She was a bit tall for a ballerina but nonetheless had magnificent form. On the other hand, her friend, Emi, was pale and short, though just as lean.

"Lord, help us," said Emi with a snicker, quickly putting up her unruly hair.

Hana was still stretching at the _barre_, listening to the occasional chuckle coming from the two older dancers, when she detected the knob of the room door jostling.

"It must be locked," she said to herself, lifting her leg off the _barre_ and going to open the door when Ren and Emi mindfully ignored the sound.

"Sorry about that," she said, looking south as she twisted the knob open.

"It's oka—"

Hana lifted her head at the familiar voice, her feet suddenly sweating in her satin ballet slippers.

"_Tai_?" she exclaimed, raising her green eyes to meet his gaze. Her mouth remained agape when he returned just as shocked a stare.

"What are you—" He cut himself off, casting a look over his shoulder at his antsy teammates. Their coach had abandoned them for a moment to talk to one of the studio managers about using one of the rooms every now and then for practices, leaving Tai in charge of his team for the time being. Upon seeing Hana's face, he now knew what charade his coach was up to. A low growl emanated from the back of his throat as he came to the realization. Mr. Fukazawa was making them do _ballet_.

"Um… can we come in?" he said at last after swiping his hand over his face at the mere thought of frolicking about a dance room.

"Oh, yeah," said Hana, shaking herself from her astonishment. "Please, come in."

She parted the door wide, and Tai inhaled deeply before stepping inside, as if he were preparing to plunge himself into a pool of ice water. Most of the boys that followed after him uttered mixed responses as their eyes roamed over the empty room and its mirrored walls, such reactions ranging from confusion, to disgust, and then, after taking a gander at the three girls present in the room, to anticipation.

"Aw, look at them," remarked Emi as the boys stood awkwardly before them, rubbing the dirt from their cleats on the slick wooden floor. She pointed a white finger at them. "They're so cute… like puppies!"

"Looks like Hana's found herself a puppy," said Ren behind a tan hand. Her eyes glanced over at the subject of their gossip, who stood talking to a soccer player with big hair.

"So run by the torture you have planned for us today?" asked Tai to Hana. He didn't appear too uncomfortable, but the scowl on his face and his reluctance to look at her straight in the eye suggested that he would still prefer to be elsewhere.

"Well…" Hana rung the hem of her wrap skirt in her hands. "…according to my instructor's directions, we're to teach you all some partner stretches, go through some agility exercises, and then end by practicing some balancing techniques."

Tai spoke before he could check himself.

"You make it sound _so_ exciting."

Hana instinctively swatted him on the arm. The attack surprised him, and he hugged the targeted limb more from surprise than stinging pain.

"Ballet isn't pink frills and frolicking, Tai," she stated firmly. "I think you'll find some of the things we do regularly very helpful for you and your team."

She prevented him from retorting by leaving him with those words and jogging up to Ren and Emi. As much as she'd like to argue more about the benefits of ballet, she knew that the only way to get the boys to truly shut up was to get them working.

"So," she said in greeting, "are you two going to lead this tough crowd?" Hana tapped the toe of her shoe behind her while she placed her hands on her hips as she waited for an answer.

"God, no," said Ren, giving Hana a look. "If Nakamura didn't pay me or Emi to be here, I wouldn't be here."

"But—"

"Here," interrupted Ren, placing a hand on Hana's skinny shoulder. "How about I lay down the rules and then you take over? But I'm not going to do much else." She smirked wickedly. "I'm not the one that needs to impress that old lady Nakamura, now, do I?"

"The floor's yours, hun," said Emi to Ren, who, chin in the air, stepped forward and with two claps of the hands, snatched the boys' undivided attention.

"All right, pups," she said, her raspy voice grating, "here's the lowdown. First things first: look, but don't touch. I'm too old for all of you. Second thing, take off your dirty shoes. Third thing, complain, and I'll force you to do center splits, which would be hell for your manhood. And if you're still so full of yourself that you think that just because you're with ballerinas that you're in for an easy practice, think again. I do hope that I at least see one of you pups cry today. That's all."

The silence that permeated the room afterwards was so thick that Hana swore she could hear the nervous heartbeats of twenty or so unfortunate boys.

Ren turned to Hana, smiling pertly.

"They're all yours."

"Great," Hana muttered under her breath, shaking her arms slightly of its nerves. She stepped forward, clearing her throat and teetering faintly on the balls of her feet as she examined the crowd she'd be dealing with for the next few hours.

"O…kay," she said loudly, clasping her hands together. Her voice echoed solo about the room, save for an occasional and deliberate cough. "So… it appears that you're all here to improve agility and balance. Hopefully my friends and I can help you reach those goals. We'll start off with partner stretches, so pair up!"

It took a second for the order to register, and the boys remained standing confused until Tai reiterated the command. Naturally, he and Davis were partners, and when the team had successfully divided itself into groups of two, Hana continued with the lesson.

"I'm sure most of you are used to partner stretches, as it's not uncommon in team sports, but Ren, Emi and I will teach you a few other ones that you can add to what you know already." She paused. "I'm going to need some volunteers."

Before Tai could stop him, Davis raised a hand, ever eager to show off whatever talents he didn't possess. Hana beckoned them to her with a flick of the wrist, extending her hand to Davis when they came forward so that she could introduce herself to him. How Davis replied to the gesture was enough to make Tai gag. She was older than him.

"Okay," resumed Hana, touching both Tai and Davis on the shoulder. "So, you two, stand back-to-back. Good. Now, spread your legs apart while still standing upright. Don't bend the knees. Farther. No, farther."

She tapped the bare skin behind Davis's knees, as they had started to buckle.

"What are you trying to make us do? The splits?" Davis whined in pain.

Hana flashed him a smile, which momentarily tamed his vocalized discomfort.

"Even if I was, Davis, you're far from a split. Now, both of you, bend over. More." She pushed at both their spines slightly. "All the way over. As in… head between your legs. Good. You two getting a good look at each other from your new point of view?" she teased.

"Forget back-to-back, Hana," said Ren, a joke on the tip of her tongue. She watched the dummies on display with visible joy, glad that she was spared of any humiliation. "You've got them butt-to-butt! How kinky!"

The soccer team laughed jeeringly at their fellow teammates, obviously in agreement with Ren's mocking observation. Tai and Davis reddened from their bent positions, the former tilting his head a bit to the side to send a well-deserved glare at his smug-looking instructor.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" he growled lightly, feeling his head throb as blood rushed into his face.

Hana grinned.

"Only a little."

"Are we done yet?" cried Davis. "I'm getting woozy."

"Buck up, Davis. We're not even done. I want you two to grab onto each other's arms and pull slightly so that the hold of the other is keeping you as bent forward as you can possibly bear."

The boys issued more inane protests at the command, though they nonetheless fulfilled the order. Hana made them hold the position for what seemed like an eternity, when, in fact, it was but thirty seconds.

At the end of the exercise, Davis fell flat on the floor while Tai slowly raised himself back to his full height, letting the blood recede from his pounding head. Hana, with a laugh, gave Davis some encouraging words and a pat on the head before instructing the rest of their soccer team to practice the stretch.

"Come to think of it," Tai said, capturing Hana's attention. She pivoted around on her heel, her pony tail almost whipping him in the chest. "Doesn't it make more sense for you dancers to do the demonstrations?"

"Ren and Emi won't cooperate," Hana countered swiftly, as if she hadn't thought of that possibility herself. She was _not_ under any circumstances going to be alone at the front of the room, bending herself into a pretzel before a pack of teenage boys. "They are being paid to be here, which means all the dirty work falls on me."

"Then why don't _you_ do the examples?" suggested Davis, finally up from his short repose on the floor. "I could be your partner."

Tai gave him a nudge in the chest with his elbow, which Davis received with a petty "Ow!" followed by an innocent, "What? I'm just trying to be helpful."

"That's not the reason you're volunteering, Davis," said Tai, knowing his protégé's motivations all too well. They were probably the same motivations of every other boy in the room.

"All right, fine." He paused. "She's hot," he said bluntly.

"And out comes the truth."

Hana tried to contain her giggles, but the attempt to hold in her laughter only resulted in her snorting spontaneously, earning a glare from Tai and another flattering comment from Davis.

"Well, you do have a point, Tai," said Hana after she had regained her composure. "I guess it's a bit unfair of me to make you all do the stretches first when you haven't done them before. I can do them myself, and, sure, Davis, you can be my partner."

Tai's jaw unhinged.

"Wait a minute!" He hadn't expected her to actually go along with his suggestion, which, in honesty, was made out of retaliation. "You mean you're actually going to—"

"Yeah," Hana interrupted happily. "Why not?" She grabbed Davis's hand and whistled to the rest of the team to indicate that they would be moving on to the next partner stretch.

"So, this one's much easier than the previous. You stand before your partner, maybe a foot apart, set your left hand on your partner's left shoulder…" She went on to explain the rest of the exercise, her voice ringing loud in Davis's ears due to her close proximity. The stretch was followed by many others, with Davis as her constant volunteer. He was a good enough partner, though he did, at times, seem as stiff as a wooden board, a fact she let him know at the end of practice.

His excuse only brought a smile to her face.

"Well, you know," he said, stuffing his hands into his shorts' pockets and shrugging. "Pretty girl, close contact…" He awkwardly scratched the back of his neck, smiling broadly albeit. Ren, overhearing their conversation, snuck up behind him and laid a hand on his shoulder, spooking him out of his embarrassment.

"Boy, do you lay it on thick," she said. "You're lucky Hana has the patience to put up with your pickup lines. I'd have kicked where it hurts by now."

He laughed uneasily, gulping afterwards.

"Well, I'm glad I didn't have you as a partner, right?"

Ren patted his cheek.

"Smart boy." She turned to Hana. "Emi and I are headed out now. You want us to wait for you? We can grab some dinner."

"Oh, no," said Hana, bowing at the older dancer. "I have to work on a project with someone. Can I get a rain check on dinner, though?"

"Yeah, sure, Kurosawa. Later, then."

Ren picked up her bags and exited the room with Emi before most of the boys had put their cleats back on, the two dancers receiving some words of thanks form Coach Fukazawa who stood by the door. He had entered the room halfway through their first dose of ballet and was pleasantly surprised to see the boys taking to it with some enthusiasm, even if it was enthusiasm borne out of obedience or the presences of three young women. He reminded his players about next practice as they exited the dance room, some going back to the bus to get a ride back to school, and some opting for the subway to get back to their homes.

Tai lingered behind, Davis with him, as he had remembered that he and Hana were to work on their science project. Why Davis insisted on tagging along, he didn't know, and he didn't _want_ to know. The boy might have taken the rejection from his sister hard, but he sure moved on quickly to other girls. He seemed particularly taken with Hana, who, despite making it politely known that she wasn't interested, still seemed to attract Davis's attentions.

"So, on a scale of one to ten, Tai…" The sound of her voice jolted him out of his daydream and he spun around to find her standing behind him, still dressed in her tights, leotard and skirt. Her ballet shoes were off, though, and were replaced with a pair of bright yellow flip-flops to match the summer season. He noticed the glisten of sweat across her forehead. "How would you rate the difficulty of today's practice?"

He shrugged his shoulders, realizing in the distance that Davis was leaving the room, water bottle in hand.

"Five, at the most," he replied calmly, looking back at her.

"I see…" she said, picking up her duffel bag as her lips curled into a smile. "Is that higher than you expected?"

"I guess so," he said, refusing to give her a definite answer. He steered their conversation elsewhere. "You do stuff like this everyday in ballet practice?"

"In Paris, yes. I'm pretty sure I'll follow a similar routine here. We spend at least an hour warming up at the _barre_, and then we do more exercises in the center of the room. We might not be running miles and miles on pitch kicking a ball back and forth, but we do spend a lot of time leaping and twirling and spinning. Body-building, even, since ballet is a very aesthetic sport. I don't think it's one hundred percent compatible, no, but soccer and ballet are still equally demanding sports."

He would have preferred a one-word answer of "yes," but she just had to go on and defend herself and her "sport." Tai shrugged in response.

"Still, not as intense as a regular soccer practice," he said.

Hana shook her head at him, expecting his arrogance. After what exercises he went through during this practice, she was certain he'd be aching come midnight.

"So what excuse are you going to give Matt, Sora and Izzy when they spot you limping into school?"

"Like a few stretches are going to incapacitate me, Hana," he scoffed. "I feel fine. Barely broke a sweat."

"Oh, sure, you say that _now_, but…" She gestured at his person. "… well, maybe you should just tell your friends tomorrow that you got sore practicing your bicycle kicks."

A retort was about to be launched from his mouth when Davis popped back into the room, waving his water bottle at them. Hana and Tai saw it as their cue to leave, especially with Davis complaining to them about the current empty state of his stomach, and Hana gladly left the studio to head for the nearest metro station, neon yellow flip-flops slapping against the sidewalk concrete.


	6. Six

**A/N: You know I just _had_ to do it. **

xXx

SIX

xXx

**I**t was past midnight by the time Tai had collapsed into his bed for the night. He remained in that solitary position—face first into his pillow, lying flat on his stomach, an arm and a leg dangling over the edge of his bed—for a few minutes as he recollected his day. But a few hours earlier, the effects of his first dose of ballet training were nonexistent. He felt as spry and active as he had before ever stepping into the dance room, but at present, his limbs were sorer than he dared to admit. In fact, he had aches in parts of his body he didn't know could hurt.

It was swiftly decided that he wouldn't mention any of it to Hana the next morning, though he had a feeling she would perceive his pain, anyway.

After ballet practice, Hana had suggested they go straight to her apartment to start researching for their project on black holes, and Tai was happy to oblige. The sooner they got it out of the way, the sooner it and Mr. Tokoya's science class would be out of his hair. Davis had invited himself along after overhearing that Hana lived in the same neighborhood as some of his friends—those of whom he was supposed to meet after soccer practice. When Hana posed concerns about him walking back home, he waved them off, saying that his apartment building was within walking distance. In fact, if soccer practice had still taken place at their school, he probably would have just walked to his destination.

"Hey, if you think about it," he told her, "we're practically neighbors since I live so close. We could hang out on weekends!"

Davis's flirting had been on and off during the first few hours of his involvement in Hana Kurosawa's life. Mostly, it was on, and as much as Tai wanted to tell Davis that his moves weren't going to work, he kept quiet and offered a wry comment now and then, hoping that, with time, Davis would get the hint that the girl was not looking for a date.

His protégé, however, would have none of his discouragement, and aptly replied:

"Oh, come on, Tai. If she was a girl you liked, you'd be inviting her out to things, like me."

At the memory, Tai uttered a moan into his pillow. Davis's comment had succeeded in shutting him up for the rest of the subway ride. He wasn't, and Davis well knew it, very successful with the ladies. On several occasions, Tai had been told that he was charming, that he was funny, that he was cute, but whatever compliments he received from the opposite sex seemed to stop with flattery. The dates he had gone on (which were few and far between), had always been relatively awkward and sparkless. Some showed potential and lasted a few weeks, but overall, most of his "relationships" had been failures. He'd only end up complaining to Matt or Sora about how badly things fell apart. Usually, he spoke with the former, although he seemed to remember Sora's advice more clearly. It bothered him, too, why, when the right time came to utilize such counsel, he never used it.

When the pillow pressed against his face made him want to gulp for air, Tai rolled over onto his back, his brown eyes staring thoughtfully at the bottom of the top bunk. In the silent dark, he could hear Kari's slow breathing and the faint ticking of the living room clock.

On their way from the subway station, he, Hana, and Davis had encountered Kari and some other mutual friends on the way to Hana's apartment—no doubt because Davis was supposed to meet them in the same area. Introductions were made, and Hana was warmly welcomed by Yolei, T.K. (who Tai said was Matt's kid brother) and Cody, all of whom lived in the apartment building adjacent to her own. The gang was going over to Cody's home for a pre-dinner snack of brownies, and while Tai, naturally, saw himself included, Hana's face expressed some doubt in joining them. He had noticed her take half a step back, her body turning slightly as if in preparation to leave. A personal invitation was about to pass his lips when someone beat him to it.

"You're welcome to come along, Hana," Cody had said. "I wouldn't be much of a neighbor if I didn't invite you over with the rest of us."

Cody's manners, as usual, were impeccable, and, impressed by such courtesy coming from so young a boy, Hana gladly accepted joining their company.

They spent roughly an hour in the Hida residence, munching on baked goods and filling each other in on the drama and happenings in their respective lives. Hana was peppered a good deal with questions about her old home, how she liked Japan, what it was like to be a ballet dancer. She answered them all, albeit briefly, surprisingly comfortable in the presences of people she had known for so short a time. Sometimes she even answered them mid-chew on a brownie (of which she, out of all of them, ate the most), the chocolate sticking to her white teeth. Davis continued to appear enamored of her, ignorant of her flaws, and he inserted a flattering and or flirty comment whenever he had the opportunity.

His antics only drew laughter from his peers, but a part of Tai was relieved. At least Davis was laying those affections on someone else and not his sister, who, as discreetly as possible, was still—he was certain of it—interested in T.K. He wasn't sure of it, but he could have sworn that he caught a glimpse of them holding hands under the table when he had dropped something on the floor.

Tai rolled onto his side, his gaze now fixed on his closed bedroom door. His and Hana's departure from the others was seen off with suggestions of future plans, most of them directed to the aspiring ballerina. They crossed a street and then entered the apartment complex next door, taking the elevator up eleven floors before finally reaching the Kurosawa residence. By then, it was past seven o'clock already, and as soon as Hana had unlocked her apartment door, Tai was greeted by the image of many, many boxes.

Hana had uttered a swift apology for the mess, shrinking somewhat beside him. She was a full head and neck shorter than him (no thanks to a sudden growth spurt on his part), and she only hunched more over out of her embarrassment.

She said that he could dump his stuff wherever he wanted, and he settled for a place next to her pile of ballet equipment, which included a movable _barre_ and a tall mirror set off to the side of the living room. The _barre_ was littered with pointe shoes, some with serious wear and others still in perfect pink satin condition.

"Would you like anything to drink?" Hana had asked him from the kitchen. "We have…" Her voice trailed off. "… water."

Tai smiled slightly.

"I'm good, thanks," he replied, seating himself at the dining room table, which was bare of any items, even placemats.

Hana joined him shortly afterwards, a glass of water in hand.

They discussed a few plans of action concerning their research on black holes. Both of them had, over the weekend, taken some time to look up their topic online, but Hana admitted to growing frustrated using whatever information was free and public on the internet.

"I just feel like every site I visit says the same thing," she told him.

They had set the problem aside and focused on a few finer details of their project, such as what they would do for the demonstrative portion of their research. Experiments of any sort were ruled out because they were dealing with something of a cosmic proportion. A model of a black hole was also questionable, because, as Hana had argued, black holes were essentially gateways to nothingness, and how could you make a model out of nothing?

They were still in the process of coming to a resolution when the door to the apartment unlocked and Hana's father had entered, juggling a few tiny boxes in his hands.

Mr. Kurosawa was a tall, pale man with big feet and frameless glasses on his kind face. He set the small packages he was carrying onto a nearby kitchen counter before coming up to meet Hana and her endearing, "Hi, Daddy," followed by a more normal voiced, "This is Tai Kamiya. He's my partner for that science project I was telling you about."

Tai shook the hand that reached out to him and was only able to say to Mr. Kurosawa that he was pleased to meet him.

"Likewise," said Mr. Kurosawa. "Sorry about the mess. Hana and I have been so busy adjusting that we haven't had the time to actually settle in." He noticed the soccer cleats that were resting beside the front door. "You play soccer, Tai?"

"Uh, yes…" Tai paused, caught aback by the question. "…sir," he added.

Mr. Kurosawa chuckled.

"I'm no army general, Tai. I'm a computer nerd. No need to call me 'sir.' 'Mr. Kurosawa,' or, heck, even 'Mr. K' will do just fine."

"Did you play?" Tai asked.

"Soccer?" said Mr. Kurosawa with a raise of his eyebrows. "God, no! Sports and me don't mix. Must be the scholarly build I was blessed with: big head, big feet, lubberly appendages. I'm a fan of _watching_ the sport. Do you support any club?"

"Um…" Tai thought for a moment. "Tokyo Verdy."

"Good. For a second, I thought we'd have a problem." He laughed afterwards before turning to his daughter.

"I finally got us some cell phones, so now I won't have to worry about where you are or if you've gotten lost in Tokyo's subway system." Mr. Kurosawa picked up one of the boxes he had dropped on the counter and tossed it to Hana, who caught it deftly and opened it to pull out a green mobile phone. "I already put in my number, Ryo's, the Ballet Academy's, and my office number at the university."

The previous look of joy on Hana's face was instantly replaced with displeasure at the fact that her father had, as was routine of him, preprogrammed her own phone with important contact information.

"I could have done that myself," she said mildly, not wanting to instigate an argument. "But thanks for doing it anyway, Dad. With what I have on my plate, I probably would have forgotten."

Her attentions suddenly swerved over to Tai.

"I guess we can now exchange phone numbers."

As it was the adult thing to do, Mr. Kurosawa made sure to ask the teenagers under his supervision if they had eaten dinner, and if they hadn't, what they wanted. Pizza ultimately became the selected meal choice, and it was over their dinner that some particular arrangements were made.

It soon became apparent to Mr. Kurosawa that Hana and Tai had already run into some problems with their project topic, no doubt because of its inherent complexity, and, as an avid supporter of the sciences, he couldn't help but intrude on their subtle bickering.

"As wide as the web is," he had said, "it might be better if you did your research for this project the old-fashioned way, with books. Hana's right when she said that most public sites on the internet offer redundant information. If you want more variety in your findings, go to the library."

Tai had mentioned that the public library carried very little, and of what it did carry, most of them were simplified picture books for children about space.

"Well, uh…" began Mr. Kurosawa. He scratched his balding head. "You two could go to the university library. I can give you my ID, and you should have access to journals, article databases, tons of stuff. You can even check stuff out. It's quite a trip, but it can help."

Hana and Tai had exchanged looks at the same time, and within a split second they both agreed that having access to university resources would help them greatly, though Tai was a bit less enthused about having to travel all the way to Tokyo University for a simple project—even if said project made up half of his science grade.

"We still don't know what to do about our actual presentation," Hana brought up. "We need some sort of visual or hands-on activity to engage the class."

"And, according to Hana," added Tai, a bit mockingly, "'how can you make a model out of something that's supposed to be nothing?'" He had blinked a few times after asking his question, suddenly aware that he didn't quite understand the inquiry he had just posed.

"Paradoxical, huh?" said Mr. Kurosawa with a smirk. He was in the middle of grading some papers on the living room couch, and he looked over at the pair seated at his dining table. "Well, if you want to ground yourselves in the topic a bit, make it seem less… ah… _impossible_, then go look at the stars for a bit."

"What?" was Hana's immediate and dubious answer.

"_Stargaze_, Han," Mr. Kurosawa simplified. "Go out into the country at night and just look up at the sky."

"Dad, we are dealing with black holes here, which is basically everything that the night sky is not."

"Well, you said to me that there was a theory that the center of this galaxy is quite possibly a black hole—or many of them. Now, think about it. What can be more fascinating than a giant vacuum being at the heart of the Milky Way?"

"I can think of a couple of things," Tai mumbled, all in good humor.

Mr. Kurosawa shook his head slightly, grinning albeit. He was appreciative of the witty comment but remained vigilant to get the two teens to make sense of his hints.

"So…" said Hana, considering her father's proposal. She tapped a pencil absently on the tabletop. "Basically, if a black hole—or many—was smack in the galactic core, nothing, pretty much, would be at the center of…" She paused, unsure of the conclusion forming on her lips. "… _everything_?" she resumed, adjusting her headband instinctively.

"Sounds pretty mind-blowing to me," said Mr. Kurosawa. "Imagine what it will do to your science class… or better, your teacher!"

Tai had to give Mr. Kurosawa credit for that one. Nothing would have pleased him more than to see Mr. Tokoya impressed with something that _he_—that was, _he_, who was failing his class—had a hand in. He suddenly became a proponent of stargazing, whereas Hana remained doubtful.

"How is that even going to work?" she asked. "We just go camping one weekend? Isn't there an observatory we can go to instead?"

"It doesn't have to be so boring, Hana. Invite your friends. Tai can invite people, too. How about it, Tai?"

"I like the outdoors as much as the next guy, Mr. K. I can ask my friends, too, if they're interested."

"Dad," said Hana stiffly, trying to get a word in. "I have no friends. I've lived here for a week."

Her father shrugged.

"Fine. Invite Ryo."

The command soon became an open forum on who Ryo was. Hana had expressed reluctance inviting him along, which made Tai wonder why—aloud. Based on how casually the name was thrown about between father and daughter, Tai had expected Ryo to be a brother or other relative. The truth of the matter, however, was far different.

Ryo was Hana's boyfriend.

Tai kicked at the sheets of his bed and shifted again so that he lay on his back, his forearm now bent behind his head. It made no sense for him to get irritated while recollecting that fact. He had only known Hana for a few days, and he wasn't even sure if he could consider her a friend. It was true that, yes, he had been in the single game for a long time and any new face from the opposite sex rained opportunities on him like a torrent, but it usually took a few days for him to get over any first attractions. Those that didn't fade, he'd ask out; and he had yet to meet someone who sustained his infatuation.

With a soft grumble, he returned to his first position when he had initially collapsed onto his bed: face in pillow, belly flat on the mattress. He checked the time on his clock, wiped a hand over his tired face, and then, surrendering himself to his fatigue, finally fell asleep.


	7. Seven

**A/N: Sorry for the late update! I was debating whether or not to add in a filler chapter or not and ultimately decided against it. So this chapter (believe it or not), is actually part of the plot. It's also long, so happy reading! **

xXx

SEVEN

xXx

**T**he mix of emotions churning in Hana's gut was enough to make her want to puke and giggle at the same time. She and Tai had successfully completed their project proposal and had turned it in to Mr. Tokoya the previous Friday. Their science teacher had flipped through the packet of papers with his hard mouth dipping and his eyebrows wrinkled. The read-through was conducted in complete, nerve-racking silence, and when at last Mr. Tokoya had set the packet aside, he looked up at the pair and smiled one of his rare, intimidating smiles.

"Excellent proposal," he had said. "I look forward to seeing how your project plays out."

At present, Hana was in the shotgun seat of the van her father had rented for their stargazing trip, her head leaning against the windowpane. Tai had made what she assumed to be tentative plans to stargaze known to his friends, which included everyone at their lunch table, Kari, Davis and two of Hana's neighbors, Yolei and T.K. (Cody had a kendo competition to attend that weekend), along with another friend of theirs, Ken Ichijouji, who lived all the way in Yamachi. The list of names alone was making her nauseous—not because she disliked any of them, but more because what she thought was supposed to be a simple and _small_ camping party had indeed morphed into something more like a class field trip. Tai's posse, obviously, seemed to know each other very well, whereas the only people Hana really knew were her father and Ryo, who, to her great surprise, had decided to come along.

It was Ryo's presence that contributed to her feelings of glee amidst her feelings of uncertainty. The camping trip would be the first time that they'd see each other since she moved to Japan. Their respective schedules and the distance between their homes did not make it very possible for them to communicate often, even by phone or email. Ryo Hiraki was a first-year student at Kyoto University and was finding college life much too entertaining and time-consuming to drive often to Tokyo despite having family (and Hana) to visit there.

Though, Hana had to admit that his short absence from her life made her all the more happy to see him. It was nice to be picked up from school rather than take the subway, and it was nice, too, to just have someone around who knew her quirks, her pet peeves, her favored topics of discussion. She might have survived her first weeks of school, but when she saw Ryo's car waiting for her outside after school it was only a matter of seconds before she found the driver and hugged him until he could barely breathe.

She could hardly contain herself, either, in the car ride to her apartment. Questions spurted out of her mouth—What was university like? Was he getting along with his roommate? What was he studying?—and Ryo did his best to indulge her without taking his bright blue eyes off the road. It was Ryo, too, who had offered to drive a part of their group down to the camp grounds, and Hana tried not to imagine whatever havoc was being wrecked in Ryo's red sports car, which Matt, Sora, Davis and Yolei were riding in. She trusted that Ryo would be his usual self, though the introductions that she had had to make at the start of their trip were the epitome of uncomfortable.

The general response from her new acquaintances upon meeting the tall, red-haired and blue-eyed boy that held her hand was shock, however veiled it was. Some reactions were more vocal and apparent than others (Davis's jaw had just about dropped to the floor upon hearing the news), but in sum, most were simply curious as to how the relationship started. Hana had, after all, only lived in Japan a few weeks.

There hadn't been sufficient time for Hana to explain to everyone that she didn't arrive in Japan 'desperately seeking.' Once the courtesies had been paid, Mr. Kurosawa split the party up into two groups so that they could get into their vehicles and get going. It was quite a drive to the countryside, and even if he had only raised one child, Mr. Kurosawa knew that being stuck in a car full of teenagers for an extended period of time was one equivalent of hell on earth. Tai happened to have already been informed as to how Hana and Ryo met, having asked her about it over a project meeting (which was more Hana gushing to him just how excited she was that her boyfriend was coming to town).

With the way she embellished his description, Tai was expecting to meet an extraordinarily cool guy—a guy who played baseball and went hiking, traveled often to the far ends of the globe, had a palate for bizarre cuisine, and possessed the typical young adult tendency to drive at ridiculous speeds. What he met in reality was a young, thin man dressed in a collared shirt and expensive looking jeans with very little to say to anyone or about anything. If Ryo resembled any stereotype whatsoever, it was the starving artist, except, Tai observed, he looked more put together. He wondered what the perky, giggly Hana found in Ryo, who turned out to be a boring piece of plastic.

Hana's occasional tapping of her fingernails against the windowpane reminded Tai and, he was sure, the others, that no one was talking. Conversation in the car had died somewhat as they approached their second hour of driving, and Tai figured that the curiosity of his friends wouldn't hold out much longer. He leaned forward in his seat, which was behind Hana's, and tapped her lightly on the shoulder.

"What's up, Tai?" she asked, turning to him. "Is the silence killing you, too?"

"Kind of, yeah," he replied, grateful for her jovial tone. It would help him ask the question that was on the tip of his tongue. "So… everyone's a bit curious about you and Hiraki." In truth, he would have preferred a different topic of discussion (since after meeting him, _anything_ was more interesting than Ryo Hiraki), but his friends would remain out of the loop. Tai figured that everyone else had the right to know what a bore Ryo was.

Mr. Kurosawa chuckled, overhearing the conversation.

"Han, you've got some explaining to do. I think we could use a good story, anyway," he said, briefly taking his eyes off the road.

Hana twisted around in her seat so that she faced the others in the car better. They all looked at her with expectant gazes.

"Let's start things off by saying that I didn't come to Japan looking for a boyfriend," she orated. "Ryo and I have known each other for years, since I was born, really. Both of our mothers were former ballet dancers from Paris who happened to both marry Japanese men."

"Because we're just that charming and good-looking," added Mr. Kurosawa, much to the enjoyment of the boys in the car.

Hana laughed despite shaking her head at her father.

"Well, I can't deny that," she said, blushing slightly. "But, anyway… Since our mothers knew each other from their careers in Paris, Ryo and I, at least for the first five years of my life, grew up together. Our moms enrolled us in a ballet class when I was five and he, seven. He hated it by the third class and wanted out, saying that it was girly and stupid, and his mother put him in baseball instead. When I moved to France, his family visited mine every summer, a tradition which has been kept for eleven years. Though, for the past few years, Ryo's been making the trip on his own. And, well, that's about it. I don't know what else to tell you."

Tai folded his arms across his chest, one skeptical eyebrow raised.

"Funny. 'Cause when you told _me_ how you and Ryo got together, you had a lot more to say other than the fact that you grew up together."

"I'm giving the paraphrased version. I don't think anyone needs or wants to know the specifics."

"So you were friends first before you started dating?" The question came from T.K..

"Yes, I guess you could say that. He and I didn't really see each other in person save for a few weeks every year. We talked a lot on the phone and through the internet. When we were younger and still lived in Japan, you don't know how many people assumed that we'd get married. I remember at the time thinking that that was gross and impossible, but, obviously, judging from current events, it's not."

"Does he visit you often?" asked Kari.

Hana laughed a bit nervously.

"Uh, no. With him being in Kyoto studying and everything, and our schedules just being so different, it's been difficult to coordinate anything. This is actually the first time I've seen him since I moved to Japan."

Silence followed afterwards, some unspoken sentiments hanging in the air like a menacing cloud. Hana reacted to the sudden quiet with a cheap laugh and a scratch on the head before making an attempt to change topics.

"So… camping. Anyone a fan?" She coughed deliberately into a fist. "'Cause I'm not."

Tai rescued her from further embarrassment by responding, and responding quickly.

"You're not one of those girls who freaks out when there isn't running water, are you?"

"Oh, I am most certainly one of those girls, Tai," said Hana, proudly. "Ask my dad. I can't live without modern luxuries. I become a brat."

"You've been warned, kids," said Mr. Kurosawa. "Hana speaks the truth. I took her camping one time a few years back to go hiking in the Swiss Alps, and she so refused to go to the bathroom in the woods that she peed in her pants."

"Dad!" Hana shrieked, horrified that he had shared the story. The laughter that roared among her new friends sent blush flooding into her cheeks despite the smile forming on her lips. Still, her hands flew to her face, as if, in the motion, they could wipe the redness blooming on her skin.

Tai, still laughing, pitched forward in his seat and gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

"Relax, Hana," he said amidst a snicker. "We won't tell anyone."

"Oh, give me a break, Tai," said Hana, peeking at him from behind the fingers that still covered her red face. "As soon as we reach the campsite, you are going to jump out of this car and immediately tell Matt."

"No, I'm not!" he lied. "What would ever give you that idea?"

"He's fibbing, Hana," said Izzy, ever the truth-teller. "I suggest you take precautions if you want to save yourself from further embarrassment." He was speaking from experience, recalling a certain instance in the past where he had mentioned to Tai that Mimi's hair had looked nice one day. The next thing he knew, his simple observation had been advertised as the symptoms of an obsessive crush.

"Good thinking, Izzy," said Hana, a mischievous grin surfacing on her face. "Anyone have some duct tape?"

"Hey!" yelped Tai, inching back into his seat. "Let's not take things seriously here!"

"Please, don't," said Mr. Kurosawa. His paternal voice toned down the giggles bubbling up in his van. "If you tape his mouth shut and tie him up, that will look like a kidnapping." His calm words oozed with sarcasm. "I know I'm driving a large, white van with a lot of kids in it, Han, but don't make my life a living hell by making me look like a man on Japan's Most Wanted List. The glasses and balding head don't exactly help my image."

"Fine," she said, relenting. "But no one tell anyone in Ryo's car that story. Ryo himself doesn't even know about it." She bit her lip after speaking, realizing her mistake as she looked into Tai's grinning face. "Don't you dare," she threatened.

Tai swiped his forefinger and thumb across his closed lips.

"I won't tell a soul."

xXx

The sky was emblazoned with pink by the time they arrived at the campgrounds, the curve of the sun slipping beneath the blackening horizon when their cars were parked and the slow process of unpacking began. One of the first things that Hana noticed was how fresh and dewy everything smelled, as if she had just stepped out into the open after a heavy rain. She wondered if this was how the world was supposed to smell, as opposed to the constant fumes of pollution and smog that she happily inhaled most days of her life. She wiggled her toes in the cavity of her sneakers, tempted to take off her shoes and go bound about on the grass. One quick glance at the ground showed a rather large spider on the prowl, and with a shudder, Hana reconsidered freeing her feet.

"You know, you can help us out any time, Hana. Take your time."

She spun around at the snide comment, fists on her hips, and a mock pout already positioned on her face. Ryo was standing behind her, equipment heaped onto his arms and back.

"Well, since you asked so _nicely_," she responded, coming forward and tapping him gently on the nose, "I'd be happy to assist you." She reached over his head and grabbed what looked to her like the parts of a telescope. Once it was in her possession, she looked down at it quizzically.

"What's this for?" she asked.

"Your dad brought it. I think he said it would help with the stargazing… that is… if he remembers how to assemble it."

Hana shook her head faintly, knowing for a fact that her father was perhaps the worst handyman known on earth. Solving problems in equation form came to him easily, but give a bunch of spare parts to him and he would tinker around with them incessantly, coming up with all sorts of odd and interesting combinations but never reaching the intended design.

"He didn't bring instructions, did he?" she said.

Ryo smiled.

"Nope."

The pair walked towards their campsite where everyone else seemed to be occupied with various tasks. Davis and Ken were struggling to set up a tent, Yolei and Sora were organizing a campfire space, Kari and T.K. were looking for fuel for the fire, and pretty much everyone else was helping unload the van and Ryo's car.

Her father hadn't provided her with much information about the campsite he had reserved, mainly because he knew that she would not approve of his frugal, last minute selection. It was true that there was a cabin a ways off from their campsite that would be available for them to use if anyone found being in nature absolutely intolerable, but other than that, there was nothing in the area save for trees, a grassy clearing leading into a field, and the occasional bush. Hana was currently assessing how she would possibly go to the bathroom without there being a working toilet or a sink to wash her hands. She stood apart from the rest of the group, a finger to her chin as she glared into the surrounding trees and foliage, pondering on the issue.

She was only drawn from thinking on her dilemma when she heard the grass rustle behind her.

"Come on, Princess," said Ryo, interrupting her musings a second time. He put an arm around her waist. "Help us out a little. You can look for your toilet later."

The pair went off to help unload both vehicles, and it was because of them that unpacking took a tad longer than desired. Tai had overheard the "Aws," and various other coos being uttered by the girls in their group in response to Hana's and Ryo's flirting, which had augmented exponentially once they were within ten feet of each other. Ryo would give Hana a poke in the side while she was lifting something, and she would retaliate by grabbing his hand and making sure he didn't poke her again. But of course, he'd find a way to free his fingers and the cycle would repeat. Tai didn't think he'd heard Hana giggle so much until then, and he supposed that if Ryo could make her laugh _that_ much in just a half hour, maybe he wasn't such a deadhead after all.

When camp was finally set, a short dinner was prepared by Matt and Mr. Kurosawa before the night was dark enough for the stars to poke through. It became obvious to Hana that her companions, like her, rarely went on outdoor adventures. Tai, Matt, Davis and T.K. had all collaborated on erecting the tents and had only succeeded in arguing or causing some minor injury to themselves or to another. Ryo and Mr. Kurosawa had had to take over when it was near dark, and the two of them easily got the tents squared away so that their next priority—food—would no longer have to await their attention.

"You know, for a guy who dresses the way Ryo does, I wouldn't have expected him to be Mr. Outdoorsman."

Matt had made the comment to Hana, whom he was sitting next to on a log by the campfire. Now that camp was set and dinner eaten, the plans for the rest of the night were simple: stargaze. Unfortunately, Mr. Kurosawa insisted that they use the telescope he brought to look up at the stars, and as he and Izzy were still assembling it, the stargazing was delayed. Hana had peaked at the two of them every few minutes or so, checking to see if they were making any progress. All her tutoring lessons with Izzy always had him spending at least an hour of his time conversing with her father about computers and whatnot. It was no wonder the computer boy genius was drawn to the older computer genius, but two of them working together didn't necessarily guarantee that the telescope would be assembled promptly.

"He was a boy scout growing up," Hana replied, turning to Matt.

Everyone sat around the campfire, either talking to a neighbor or fidgeting in silence. Ryo had left their circle a few minutes ago due to a phone call, and Hana could hear the distant murmur of his voice from wherever he was in the surrounding forest. She wondered, too, how he could even get service in such an isolated area.

"He may dress in the collared shirt and neat, pressed pants," she continued, "but he's not afraid to get his hands dirty."

"I can tell," said Matt. "He set those tents up in a flash, and when I saw a tick land on Sora's shoulder, he just came by, flicked it off, and left before Sora even knew what was going on."

Hana laughed.

"Well, that's Ryo. Professional bug-killer." She giggled at the dry joke. Matt didn't laugh with her, and she assumed seriousness. "In general," she continued, "he's not easily moved by anything. Bugs, politics, people that walk slow on the sidewalks. He's never been one to show you what he's thinking or feeling just by looking at his face. If he likes something, he'll let you know by telling you. If he doesn't like something, likewise. He says that there are too many important things in life for him to be bothered or amused by trivialities. When he comes across something truly amazing or truly horrific, he wants to feel those emotions at their purest."

"A bit of a philosopher, isn't he?"

"No," said Hana, giving Matt an embarrassed smile. "Well, I guess… He just… well… How can I put this in kind terms? Let me just say that Ryo would more likely be moved by a piece of art than by the sight of starving children from a Third World country."

Matt's eyebrows elevated gradually.

"So… philosopher? Yes. Humanitarian? No."

An empty laugh escaped Hana.

"I'm not paining a good picture of him, am I? I guess that means you'll just have to talk to Ryo yourself."

Matt would have said that he had plenty of time in the ride there to talk to Ryo, but their conversation, and those of others, were interrupted when the subject of their gossip abruptly emerged from the bushes and headed back towards them.

"You all look so sullen," he said upon arriving, directing the observation to Hana before turning his blue eyes to the rest of the group. "In my experience, camping's a recreational activity."

"Well, what do _you_ do when you go camping, Hiraki?" asked Davis, peeved and not making any attempt to conceal it. A gnat promptly flew up his nostril and had him groaning for a good moment before he was able to snort it out, much to the disgust of Yolei, who was seated beside him.

"I don't camp to go stargazing, Davis," Ryo replied, more condescendingly than Hana had anticipated. "I go rafting or hiking. You know, adventurous things."

"We're here in the name of science, Ryo," Hana remarked bitterly. "Science isn't adventurous."

"I don't think your dad would appreciate that comment, Han." He dropped the subject afterwards, noticing the glare in his girlfriend's eyes. "We should make s'mores," he suggested instead. "I think Sora said she brought what we need to make them."

"Oh, yeah," said Sora, remembering that fact. The rest of the circle seemed to breathe, in unison, a sigh of relief. "Good idea, Ryo. Let me just grab my backpack." She left the campfire circle, Matt following after her, and returned quickly with a few boxes of graham crackers, some semi-melted chocolate bars and a few bags of marshmallows. As she doled out the snack items to her fellow campers, Ryo nudged Hana gently and leaned in to whisper something to her.

"You okay?" he asked her softly.

"Yeah," she said.

"Then can I talk to you?"

The two of them left hand-in-hand shortly afterwards, taking advantage of everyone else's preoccupation with food to leave discreetly. No one even noticed that Hana and Ryo were gone until Hana returned alone to the campfire circle and plopped herself down beside Matt. She said nothing, and Matt was about to ask her where she'd been when she got up immediately, grabbed a stick, shoved a marshmallow onto the tip and stuck it into the fire. It was Sora's hand on Matt's arm that silently told him not to press Hana for answers, as it was obvious that Hana was not in the speaking mood.

Ryo returned to the group a few minutes later, announcing that Mr. Kurosawa and Izzy had at last assembled the telescope and they could take turns using it while examining the stars. He also brought with him some star maps that he passed around to the others, in case they were interested in using them.

As soon as one of the maps reached Tai's possession, he looked over at Hana.

"You want to go first and get this out of the way?" he asked her from his place across the campfire circle.

Hana picked a burnt marshmallow off the stick in her hands.

"Sure," she said curtly, getting up and stuffing the charred sweet into her mouth. She dusted off her shorts before heading off to the telescope without waiting for Tai.

Her rude departure left her fellow campers stunned silent for a moment, wondering how on earth Hana had gone from her cheery self to some annoyed, stomping gorilla.

"She's in a bad mood," Ryo proclaimed when his girlfriend was out of earshot. He cast a look at Tai who had yet to leave as he was making one last s'more before he joined his irritable science partner. "I would suggest caution when talking to her."

Tai smiled thinly.

"You talk about her like she's about to erupt like a volcano," he laughed feebly.

Ryan wiped a hand over his face, clasping his fingers together and speaking down to the ground.

"That's not too far from the truth."

The graveness in Ryo's tone made Tai faintly uncomfortable as he left the group to meet Hana who was already at the telescope, and, from the light of the lantern near her, looking out of it. Of course he had noticed Hana's masked frustration, but he had second thoughts about Ryo outright announcing to everyone that his girlfriend was about to implode. Maybe it was done to make it clear that he was the cause of her anger.

With a shake of his head, Tai shrugged off the questions and reunited with Hana at the telescope, passing Izzy along the way. Mr. Kurosawa was currently advising her where to direct the device if she wanted to view a particular planet or star.

"Evening, Tai," said Mr. Kurosawa. "Oh, good. You have a star chart. That will make things a lot easier. Hana."

His daughter removed her eye from the eyepiece and pivoted to see the shadowy figure of her science partner looming behind her, beside her father.

"Yes?" She straightened her back.

"Tai brought a star map with him," answered Mr. Kurosawa. "That should help you instead of me giving you bad directions." The smell of chocolate suddenly invaded his nose. "Is that a s'more?" he asked.

"Yeah," said Tai, chuckling at the older man's spontaneous question. He raised the half-eaten s'more in his hand "There's still some marshmallows left if you want to make one by the campfire, Mr. K."

The speed with which Mr. Kurosawa left their company for the campfire shocked even Hana, who had never quite seen her father act so frivolous.

"My family has a history of sweet teeth," she said as she sat in one of two fold-up chairs by the telescope. "Must be from living in France with all of those pastries and chocolate."

Tai took the seat beside her and took a bite of his s'more, Hana, meanwhile, trying to ignore the aroma of chocolate that was coming from him.

"So, according to our research," she said, getting to business in order to avoid salivating, "the center of the Milky Way is reportedly somewhere in Sagittarius."

As if on cue, Tai looked down at the star map in his hands and scanned the many little white dots for the constellation, wishing that they weren't stuck with just one lantern. He could barely see, let alone read, the tiny print on the map. When he had spent a good few minutes squinting at and smearing the chart with his chocolate coated fingers as he turned it sideways and upside down, Hana took it from him unexpectedly and set it on her lap, a finger already tracing over several constellations.

"Here," she said, jabbing a point on the map with the tip of a fingernail. "Sagittarius should be close to the horizon." She looked around her, taking note of the tall surrounding trees with an increasing frown. "Or maybe not… We won't be able to see it anyway with this forest."

"Try it out first," Tai suggested. "Where on the horizon?" He leaned forward and butted somewhat in front of Hana to peek through the telescope's eyepiece.

"Southwest, I think."

Without warning, Tai spun the telescope around, Hana ducking and landing on all fours in time for the telescope tube to swish over where her head used to be.

"Are you out of your mind?" she shrilled. "You could have hit me smack in the forehead!"

She waited an angry few seconds before Tai registered her comment, lifting his head from the eyepiece and searching for her in the dark. When he rested his brown eyes on her sitting on the grass, he smiled broadly and pointed in the direction the telescope was facing.

"I found it," he said, seemingly ignoring the fact that he had nearly hit her.

Exhaling loudly, Hana got up from the grass and crouched beside him, peering into the eyepiece when Tai had given her a little room.

"I don't see it," she said gruffly, still angry with him. "Are you sure? I see maybe one tiny star and a lot of the tips of trees. Let me focus the scope."

She felt Tai's arm brush against hers as he, apparently disregarding her orders, went to take the telescope back. She flicked his wrist with a finger and with a grunt he sat back in his seat, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Aha!" cheered Hana when the constellation finally came into her view after the twisting of some knobs. "There you are, Sagittarius!"

"Can I look now?" asked Tai impatiently. "I bet you it's exactly what I found earlier."

"Fine," ceded Hana, stepping back. "Go ahead."

"So, somewhere in here is the center of the galaxy." His deadpan voice directly conveyed his lack of enthusiasm at the find. He squinted into the eyepiece.

"Apparently so."

"Big stuff, huh?"

"Sure. Makes me feel small, anyhow. Shouldn't it?"

"I guess."

Hana sighed and sat back in her chair, finding Tai completely lacking in the excitement she happened to have for the find. Even if Ryo preferred to hike or raft out in the wilderness, she knew he would still look up at the stars with her, feeding her questions about space with more profound inquiries and observations. _He_ would have felt small with her standing below that massive cosmic web, but she was certain her science partner just thought that he was looking up at a black piece of canvas with holes in it.

Still, Tai was taking an awful long time peering into that telescope, and Hana took that time to look over her shoulder back at those gathered around the distant campfire. She couldn't hear much of what they were saying, save perhaps for the occasional laugh. Her green eyes sought out Ryo's silhouette, and a sudden part of her regretted arguing with him earlier. If she hadn't stormed away from him angrily, perhaps she, too, would be able to enjoy their night out under the stars. But she couldn't deny her immediate feelings after Ryo told her that he was leaving early. After all, they hadn't seen each other at all since she moved to Japan, and the least he could do to help her adjust was to be there for her for a weekend.

A friend's long-planned birthday party, however, seemed more important. At least, that was how Hana perceived it. "It's been in the works for a long time now, Han. I told him weeks ago that I would go," he said to her. "You told me you were going camping… what? A few days ago?" She would have said that he'd have known about the trip sooner if she was able to get a hold of him. In fact, she had called him the same night the prospect came up. She had emailed him, too. His reply only came several days later, when Hana had just about lost all hope that he would be coming. But she didn't tell him that. She knew he would feel guilty for leaving her early regardless, and she wasn't the type of person to add insult to injury. Though, a part of her wished she was—at least for that particular instance.

Whatever further musings and angry internal rants she had about Ryo were halted when she felt something tickling her leg. A near inaudible growl emanated from the back of her throat as she glared accusingly at Tai in the dimness. She muttered something about boys being unruly idiots who couldn't keep their hands to themselves before demanding that Tai show her his hands.

"What?" he said, surprised by her aggressive tone and unthankful for it. "They're right here."

He raised both his hands so that Hana could see the outlines of them in the light given off by the lantern.

"So you weren't touching my leg?" she asked.

Tai blew out a puff of air, realizing now what the situation was about.

"Don't flatter yourself, Hana," he retorted, though he felt heat invading his cheeks. "Besides, if I was, you'd know it."

"Then who tickled my leg?" Hana asked, Tai's suave comment eluding her.

She got up from her chair and hurried over to the lantern to shed more light on her person, and as soon as her leg came into clear view, her eyes froze on the large spider clinging to her knee.

The shriek that then ripped from her throat made Tai nearly jump out of his seat.

"_Get it off!_" she wailed, shaking her leg manically and kicking over the lantern in the process. "Oh, God. Get it off! _Get it off!_"

"What the hell, Hana!" Tai abandoned the telescope to tame Hana's wild flailing. "Calm down! Geez!" A frantic hand hit him square in the lip.

Her screams eventually drew the attention of their friends around the campfire, all of whom looked back in the direction of where Hana and Tai were supposed to be. What they saw looked to them like two people in a brawl.

"Any guesses on what stirred that trouble?" asked Mr. Kurosawa, amused by his daughter's distant outcries.

"I bet you twenty dollars, Mr. Kurosawa," said Ryo, standing, "that there's a bug in the center of all that." Without another word, he ran towards the commotion, quickly followed by everyone else.

Ryo arrived in time to witness Hana slapping at her legs and arms, worriedly asking, "Where is it? Where is it? Is it dead? Is it dead?" and Tai grumbling in reply, "I don't know! I can't see it! Would you just relax?"

"What's 'it'?" Ryo asked, an eyebrow raised. He had laid but one hand on Hana's shoulder and she instantly calmed down. She turned to him, a look of relief crossing her face.

"There's a spider on me somewhere. Find it and kill it!"

Ryo laughed and winked at Mr. Kurosawa, signaling to the older man that his assumptions had been correct. Hana had indeed caused a fiasco over a bug.

"Turn around, Han," he ordered amidst a chuckle. "Where was it last?"

"On my knee," she said.

He bent down and ran a hand over both her legs, pinching her slightly and discreetly on the thigh before straightening his back and announcing that the spider was no longer there.

"You sure?" she said.

"Well, in this dark, you never know," he teased, slipping his arm around her waist. She gladly welcomed his embrace and held him back, her cheek resting against his chest. "But I'm sure nothing will be tickling your leg from now on."

Tai sighed happily.

"I'm glad that's over. I think you kicked me a few times trying to get that spider off," he said, a hand instinctively hugging his side for effect. "You weren't kidding when you said you were one of those girls that freaks out over things like this."

Hana shook her head, smiling and laughing a bit into Ryo's shirt sleeve before turning her green eyes back at her mildly injured science partner.

"Well, Tai," she said. "I did warn you."


	8. Eight

**A/N: Faster update this time! Very short chapter, but hopefully, I'll upload the next one soon. Thanks for reading!**

xXx

EIGHT

xXx

**R**egardless of Ryo leaving prematurely, the rest of the camping trip had been, overall, a success and something that everyone in attendance wouldn't mind doing again, perhaps sometime as soon as summer break. Of course, Ryo Hiraki had not dared to depart until he had arranged transportation for Matt, Sora, Yolei and Davis, and he had called a cab service to drive the four of them back to Tokyo.

"What?" Davis had protested, despite his obvious dislike for Hana's boyfriend. "You mean I don't get to ride back into Tokyo in your awesome car?"

"Afraid so, Motomiya," Ryo had replied. "Hiraki Chauffer Services is now officially closed. Besides, with looks like yours, you don't need my sweet ride to pick up girls, now, do you?"

He had given Matt a very thick wad of cash before leaving, saying that whatever was left over could be given to Hana.

"Or not," Ryo had said, shrugging. "It's up to you, and no, don't try to pay me back. It's the least I can do for you guys."

Ryo's departure was made without any pomp and circumstance. In fact, Hana was still asleep in her tent when he had left. The only people to witness his leave were Mr. Kurosawa, those who had ridden with Ryo down to the campsite, and Kari and T.K., both of whom had woken up early to go for a morning walk together. Even after she had finally risen, Hana still expressed little disappointment over her boyfriend's absence, which was an odd shift from her little tantrum the previous night. She didn't even ask where he was or how he was doing or when he was going to call.

The only topic she seemed particularly passionate about that morning was how she missed a flushing toilet. To prevent others from joining Hana's lamentation of modern luxuries, Mr. Kursoawa planned out a hike for the rest of the group, much to his daughter's dismay. Hana, as she had predicted, received the occasional poke in the ribs concerning the misfortune that befell her when last she put on hiking boots. Tai had been unable to keep her secret from Matt, and before long, everyone knew that she had wet her pants on the Swiss Alps.

Thankfully, this particular hike yielded no ill consequences, and everyone returned to the campsite exhausted, sweaty and subtly sunburnt from their trek through the wilderness. Many also bore several mosquito bites and throughout their second night of stargazing, many a slap on the arm, leg, neck or face could be heard in the forest.

Hana and Tai took the first stargazing shift again and spent about an hour taking turns looking into the telescope, this time without any further ado. Since the only constellation relevant to their project was Sagittarius, which they examined the night before, they spent their second night stargazing just looking for random stars and planets, beginning first with the constellations respective to their star signs. Tai was tempted to spook Hana a second time by telling her that there was another spider on her knee, but decided against it. He wondered why he suddenly took pleasure in seeing his project partner scream like a banshee over a thing smaller than her own hand, but then he remembered that the only person who could calm her down was no longer present. Did he want to deal with Hana's hysterics for the rest of the night? No, he did not.

He did, however, ask her what Ryo thought of the trip, or at least, for what part he was present. Tai admitted that he hadn't gotten the chance to talk much with Hana's boyfriend, what with there being more than ten other people around to talk to. Hana answered the question without a fight, glad to give Tai her boyfriend's opinion of him and his friends.

"Well, from what I saw, he seemed to enjoy the company," she said, peering into the eyepiece of the telescope. "He said that riding down with Matt, Sora, Davis and Yolei was a riot, especially since the latter two argue like an old married couple. He didn't quite remember everyone's names—including yours—so he simply referred to people by their most outstanding characteristic."

"Yeah?" said Tai, noticing a firefly flicker in the dimness. "What'd he call me?"

"You're the 'kid with big hair.' Kari was… uh… 'the girl in pink.' Ken, I think, was 'Mr. Yamachi,' only because Ryo had a friend who used to live in the same neighborhood. T.K. was 'Blondie.' I know, not very flattering, but Ryo only knew you all for what? Several hours at the most? I'd cut him some slack."

Tai forced himself to grin, though the result ended up looking more like a grimace. How difficult was it to remember 'Tai'? Or, moreover, two letters of the alphabet, 'T.K.'?

"You seem good with names," he said, hoping to take the limelight off of the absent Ryo Hiraki. "Well…" Hana pressed her lips together, backing away from the eyepiece and stretching her arms out before her as she fished for the right words. "Moving to a new country, meeting new people. I decided to try and remember everyone I met. I don't want to be alone and miserable here, Tai, despite how different life may be. That's not what my mom would have wanted."

She stopped when she realized she had mentioned her mother, who, for the most part, had been strangely omitted from all conversation.

"Well, what does your mom think of you and your dad moving to Japan?"

Tai had asked the question under the assumption that Hana's parents, like Matt's and T.K.'s were divorced. Whenever he went to her apartment to work on their project, he would catch glimpses of her mother—a petite, auburn-haired woman—in picture frames positioned around the living room. He never questioned Hana about her parents' relationship, of course, as he was certain she didn't trust him enough to give him that information.

Hana smiled weakly at the inquiry, her posture suddenly drooping as she took a sudden interest in the eyepiece of the telescope. The toes of her sneakered feet tilted inward and she avoided eye contact with Tai as if he were suddenly some stranger creating small talk with her on the metro.

"My mom…" The rest of her words got clogged in her throat, prompting her to cough. She twisted the hem of her shirt in her fingers before releasing the fabric and inhaling deeply. "My mom passed on at the beginning of the year, Tai," she said, at length.

"Oh." The words hit him like a punch in the chest, and he immediately regretted asking the question. He glanced away from her for a moment, unsure whether or not to offer his condolences, and, if he did, how he could pass it off without seeming like some insensitive jerk. "Hell, Hana," he said, slightly exasperated with himself. "I shouldn't have asked. I'm sorry."

"No, it's all right," she replied, cheerier than he had expected. His head lifted in time to see her sending him a reassuring smile. "My mom's passing was a gradual one. It gave us enough time as a family to discuss it openly with her, and it helped me and my dad cope better with her leaving us. Besides, I would have told you eventually, especially because you see pictures of my mom everywhere in my house and haven't seen her once."

"I just thought that—"

"My parents were divorced?" she finished, her smile broadening. "Don't sweat it, Tai. It's not an unreasonable assumption. We can talk about something else, if that would help." She looked into the eyepiece of the telescope. "I think I've found Jupiter." She tilted the eyepiece over to him, their fingertips touching momentarily when he reached for it. "Here, take a look."


	9. Nine

xXx

NINE

xXx

**H**ana was having second thoughts—that was, second thoughts about the burger she had eaten right before ballet practice. Currently, her gut felt like a lead weight, and the number of spins Nakamura had her and the other dancers do at the start of practice wasn't helping the nausea gradually creeping up her nose. Ren and Emi had told her it was a bad idea to eat so large a meal when she met up with the two other dancers for a quick bite.

Stupidly, she ignored their advice, boasting that she had eaten loads prior to a practice before and she turned out fine. The problem was that it was a lie, but the temptation was too great for her to pass up after not being able to eat anything all day. At their camping trip, Ryo had commented on her looking as though she'd "fleshed out" some, and she knew him well enough to know it was a subtle hint that she needed to lose weight—not for his enjoyment, no, but for her ballet instructor's.

Thus far, Nakamura had had little to comment on Hana's appearance and physique, which was odd considering that her Paris instructors had her weighed nearly every day. All her life she had been told that ballet was an aesthetic sport—an art form. Its dancers were its sole medium, and no one found stocky ballerinas beautiful. Both Ren and Emi would joke saying that sometimes the most they'd have to eat was a handful of almonds, which was all they could afford on their sorry earnings. But sometimes Hana developed the feeling that they weren't entirely lies, especially when she saw their reactions to her wolfing down her food. They looked perfectly disgusted.

She supposed that she had gotten lax with her eating habits ever since her mother passed away. Growing up, her mother had always made her mind what she stuffed in her gob, mostly because although she hadn't started taking ballet seriously until she was eight years old, her mother had privately coached her since she was three.

It was her mother, too, who introduced her to the self-discipline it would take to be a successful dancer. At times, Hana would grow frustrated with the repetition of certain movements, but her mother never forced her to do ballet. A choice was always presented to her, and time and time again, despite throwing tantrums, despite chucking her ballet slippers across the studio, despite ripping countless tiaras from her hair, Hana had always chosen to continue with the art.

And now, with her stomach bloated and heavy, she was having temporary doubts about choosing this particular career path, except this time, her mother wasn't there to, first, scold her for being such a piggy, but also to, second, give her the choice to drop it and live like a normal teenager who could eat burgers and fries as often as she wanted. That was now a decision she'd have to make herself.

"You'd better vomit and get it over with, Kurosawa." Ren's raspy whisper hit her in the side of the head. "Nakamura is giving you a death stare, and Max is starting to look anxious."

Hana took her hands off the _barre_ and lifted her head, only to get a good look of herself in the studio mirror, her face slightly damp with sweat. Max was her current dancing partner for _pas de deux_, hailing from glorious England, thousands of miles away. He was patient with her, despite being far more advanced than she was, but he was seasoned enough to not take any of her petty, adolescent melodrama. Ballet had its fair share of pain, and if she was having a rough day, it was something to suck up and get on with.

Taking in a deep breath, she turned around and flexed her ankles a few times before coming up to Nakamura and Max, the latter greeting her with a dry, "Finally! I thought I'd have to dance this thing by myself. You sure it's a good idea to come back to me? You look a bit green."

Hana didn't get a chance to answer.

"You are like a rock today, Hana," scolded Nakamura. "When your partner lifts you, try to act like you are lighter than air, because right now, it looks like he's lifting up a boulder. How much do you weigh?"

It was too much to hope that the question would never come up. Clenching her teeth, Hana gave the desired information to Mrs. Nakamura, who, as usual, was not pleased with her answer.

"Drop a few pounds," she ordered. "Or spend more time in the weight room. You're out of shape. Let's go through the _pas de deux_ again from the top."

Hana collected her breath, hands on hips, her green eyes focused on the floor. She would have taken an extra moment to give her teenaged brooding time to build, but Max made sure she didn't. He beckoned for her, and she slid into position beside him, hearing him say, quietly, "If you're going to vomit, do it now before I lift you up and risk having your dinner spill over my head."

"I'm not going to vomit," Hana muttered as she was lifted up in the air. "I'm fine, Max. What is it you Brits say? Chivvy along? Whatever. I'm fine. Just… don't hold me so tightly around the stomach. I said—_Ow!_"

Her body convulsed briefly while being held in midair, and Max was forced to set her down on the ground, much to Nakamura's frustration. Hana stood hunched over, one hand resting on her knee and the other pressed against her side.

"I've had enough of this," Nakamura growled. "You can join us when you're in better condition," she said. "You're done for the day, Hana. Leave the rest of us to our practice, if you please." She turned around abruptly. "Ren! Run through the _pas de deux_ with Max. I need something positive to happen to today."

At the moment, Hana could have cared less about being excused from ballet practice. She just wanted relief, and, after gathering her things and leaving the practice room, she wasted no time going into another one—an empty one—to lie down.

She had barely set her spine against the hard wood floor when she forced herself to get back up, suddenly upset with her performance for the day. It wasn't like she hadn't danced injured before. Her list of injuries ranged from broken toes, to sprained ankles, to pulled ligaments. Pain shouldn't have been something new to her, and it shouldn't have intervened in her dancing. What had her mother been preparing her for since she was three if it wasn't this?

Grunting against her discomfort, she stood back up and got into first position, going through the routine she would have gone through with Max but without the lifts. She only got through half of it before her cramp worsened and she was forced to sit on the ground, the breaths entering and leaving her short and sharp.

Hana stretched herself flat on the wooden floor, a hand tenderly pressing on the spot where her cramp was but only feeling a pair of ribs. She winced as she dug her fingers deeper into the tightened muscle, pushing up. She was so preoccupied with her current discomfort that she didn't hear the door to the room open and shut, and she had closed her eyes briefly as she sucked in a large breath to stretch the strained muscle. When they reopened with a slow, steady exhale, she saw a familiar face beaming down at her, his hair blocking out one of the ceiling lights.

"Tai," Hana said calmly, refusing to get up from her supine position. "A pleasure to see you."

He laughed and grinned broadly down at her.

"What are you doing on the floor?"

"Cramp," she muttered. She sat up, grimacing in the process. "Aren't you supposed to get Kari?"

In school, Tai had mentioned to her that his parents would be out of town for the rest of the week, which left him on pseudo-parent duty, one task of which he was charged being to make sure Kari came home safely from ballet practices. Hana saw it as an opportunity to have them work at the university library, since it wasn't too far from the dance academy.

"She's not done with her class, yet," he said. He remained standing and rubbed his chin.

"Stand up," he said to Hana, gesturing her with a beckon of his hand.

Hana groaned. Standing was the last thing she wanted to do.

"Wha—"

She was interrupted when Tai reached for her elbow and helped her onto her feet.

"Coach makes us stand and stretch our arms out above our heads for abdominal cramps," he said, demonstrating the technique to her.

"Like this?" said Hana, thrusting her hands up in the air and wiggling her fingers up at the ceiling.

"Yeah, but you didn't have to do the jazz hands." He laughed.

"Well, I look kind of ridiculous standing here reaching for the sky like my life depended on it, so I thought it was fitting." She repeated the exercise a few more times until her cramp seemed to be on the ebb.

"Sound advice, Kamiya," she said, resuming a sitting position on the floor. She stretched her legs out in front of her.

"With all of the benefits of ballet you go on about," he replied, "I thought I'd offer a bit of what soccer can do for you." He followed Hana's example and sat on the floor, setting his dirt-specked athletic bag beside him. "So… Kari and I were planning on getting dinner before we head to the university library with you," he said, vaguely enchanted by Hana's flexibility. "You're welcome to join us."

The mention of a meal made Hana's stomach simultaneously growl from hunger and growl from the temptation. She was about to say that she would meet them both at the library after she did an hour of weightlifting, but at the last second, decided against it. She doubted Mrs. Nakamura was going to have her weighed every day before practice, though, considering how anal-retentive the woman was, it was not an impossibility.

"Sure," she said. "You have a place in mind?"

"Well," he began, grinning mischievously, "considering all of that spare cash Matt returned to you courtesy of your boyfriend, I was thinking of going to some place fancy."

Hana chuckled.

"Hey, Ryo's dad works for the World Bank. It shouldn't be _that _surprising. But even so, no fancy-pants restaurant would let you waltz right in with your muddy cleats and dirty soccer uniform."

"I could go for fifty helpings of ramen, too."

"_That_ I can do."

A quick detour at a nearby ramen-ya to rapidly slurp up some noodles and Tai, Kari and Hana found themselves on the doorstep of one of Tokyo University's many libraries. Hana had used her father's ID card to swipe them access into the building, and after wandering around floors and weaving through rows of bookshelves to look for a free table, they finally landed a vacant lounge space. It wasn't ideal—Hana would have preferred having a desk or table to work on—but there was a small coffee table they could use to stack books. Plus, she couldn't help but smirk at Tai's exclamation at the sight of the area.

"What a sweet looking couch!" he said, dumping his backpack directly on it to test its spring.

Kari took the comfy armchair that had been calling Hana's name, and so she contented herself by sitting on one end of the couch, Tai occupying the other end.

"I feel like some of the students live here," he commented, his face contorting as he pulled a toothbrush from between two couch cushions. The sight of it prompted Hana and Kari to cringe, the latter telling him to throw it away immediately and the former telling him to stop rummaging in the cracks of the sofa.

He tossed it into the nearest trashcan, pausing for a moment to get a better look at the environment around him. Many students sat hunched at individual desks or tables, their noses in books or their hands furiously scribbling away. Some, he noticed, had cans of soda or energy drinks right beside them, and more than a few had so much wear on their faces that he wondered if they had slept in days. He looked back at their lounge space, specifically at the sofa Hana now occupied solo, and he stared at it with a frown. No wonder there was a toothbrush wedged somewhere in it. He wondered how many students had probably slept on its cushions—or, more likely, didn't sleep at all.

"My father told me that exams start next week," said Hana, watching a student walk by with a cola in hand. Tai reclaimed his seat beside her.

"That must explain the sad looks on their faces," replied Kari. She looked with apparent concern at the tired students around her.

"This is the time during the semester where my dad likes to prefer to his students as 'poor souls.'" Hana pulled a laptop from her backpack before turning around to look for an outlet.

"Your dad sure likes to make them feel doomed, doesn't he?" Tai remarked, smirking.

"I admit, he has a bit of a sadistic pleasure in making his students struggle. Then again, he's not a teacher by profession. He's merely teaching here temporarily. Could you plug this in the outlet by you?" she asked, handing a cord to him.

"How's your project coming?" Kari inquired. She had homework herself to do, but the new study environment and the company of Hana and her brother distracted her.

"All right," Tai said. "We're missing some key information that can tie everything together."

"Hopefully we can find that info tonight," added Hana, already typing away in the library's catalog. "Just let us know when you want to leave, Kari. I don't want to keep you here if you've somewhere else to go."

"No, it's all right." Kari pulled her math textbook out of her backpack and set it on her lap. "Our parents aren't home, anyway. So if I went home, I'd be alone. I'd rather have company."

"I wouldn't let you leave by yourself, anyway," said Tai, issuing it with the authority befitting a parent. "Not all the way from here."

His severe tone ended the conversation, and the trio finally settled into their respective school assignments. Hana left a few minutes later, a list of books in her hand, leaving brother and sister alone in the lounge area. The science notes in Tai's hands were held surprisingly close to his face, as if looking at the words more closely would make him understand the concepts better. He did it, too, to help him focus, especially because he had been catching Kari looking up at him several times out of the corner of his eye.

She never said anything, but the looks alone made Tai develop the feeling that his sister had something to say to him. When she had peeked at him for the umpteenth time, he pulled his eyes away from his notes and leaned back into the sofa.

"All right," he said, surrendering to his curiosity. "What's on your mind?"

Kari smiled slightly, which confirmed Tai's suspicions that she indeed had a few words to tell him. She looked up from her homework.

"What'd you think of Hana's dancing?" she asked.

Tai gave her a look, ill-amused with the question. He thought she had something more provocative to tell him, but apparently he guessed incorrectly. She _was_ the one, however, that encouraged him to see Hana first at the studio since she still had to dress out of her ballet gear, which meant that it was because of Kari that Tai caught a few glimpses of Hana in ballet-mode before he went into the room itself to greet her.

"She's good," he said, keeping his answer brief. "She makes it look really easy."

"She does, doesn't she?" Kari praised. "She's nice, too."

Tai frowned, detecting in Kari's commendation of Hana an alternative agenda. He had a good hunch what that motive was, too.

"All right, I see where this is going, Kari," he said. "Hana's nice, and yeah, she's a great dancer, too, but she's a friend. I like her… but not like that."

"I didn't say that you did, Tai," said Kari, ever elusive. "I'm just making some observations."

"Right. This isn't the first time you've tried to set me up with someone. Besides, she has a boyfriend, remember? You met him a few days ago."

Their talk ended when Hana returned, carrying a stack of books up to her neck. Tai only stood to lighten her load at Kari's behest, joking that Hana was carrying her entire weight in science books.

"Very funny," Hana said, looking as if she was going to give him a swat on the arm. She didn't. "And since we're a team, I thought that since _I_ got the books, it's only fair that _you_ return them."

"Right. Nice try, Hana, but I'm not cleaning up after you."

"Oh? Because I could always tell Mr. Tokoya that you're not doing your part of the work…"

Tai grunted.

"You're so manipulative," he muttered.

She laughed.

"By the way," she began, seating herself next to him on the couch, "a girl stopped me while I was looking for these books. She says you're cute."

"What!"

Tai nearly leapt from his seat. His outburst moved many students to send a few glowers in his direction, irritated that their quiet had been so noisily interrupted. Hana poked a finger into her ringing ear. "Where is she?" he asked, quieter this time.

"Calm down, Romeo. She's at one of those tables over there." Hana pointed at a distant table, where a group of university students—all female—were seated. A few of them were looking in their direction.

"I'll… be right back," he said, getting up and heading toward the appointed table.

"Be sure to tell her that you're not really a university student, Tai," said Kari as he left. He gave them a limp wave in acknowledgement of her advice, but ultimately chose to ignore it.

"He always this excitable when it comes to girls?" Hana asked, taking advantage of Tai's absence and lying flat on the couch as she picked up a book and flipped through it.

"He's never had a girlfriend," said Kari, a bit disappointedly.

"Really?"

"Yeah. I mean, I guess you could say he has, but he wouldn't agree. He's dated people—some even for weeks—but he never considered any of the girls he went out with to be his girlfriend. I've tried setting him up, too, but nothing came of them. I don't know if he's picky or if he just hasn't met the right person yet. He does have a habit of saying the wrong thing at the right time, or the right thing at the wrong time, or, more likely, the wrong thing at the wrong time."

"Huh," said Hana, processing the information with arched eyebrows. She picked her book back up and resumed reading. "Well, maybe this university girl is the one he's been waiting for."

Kari laughed.

"Maybe. I feel like he'll ruin his encounter with her though."

"Like how? He'll burp out his name?" She giggled at the thought.

Tai returned moments later with a slip of paper in his hands. He apparently didn't realize that Hana was lying flat on the couch and almost sat on her, which she managed to prevent by squealing.

"You got her number?" Kari asked, pleasantly astonished that her brother had come back successful, more so, successful with a university student.

Hana sat up and leaned into Tai, her neck stretching to get a good look at the number scribbled on the paper he was holding.

"I did," he said smugly.

"I didn't think you'd actually take it seriously," Hana commented, falling back into her seat after seeing the number and the name written under it.

Tai gave her look.

"Why wouldn't I?"

Hana snickered.

"'Cause she's a university student, that's why." Her tone was uncharacteristically mocking. Tai's expression soured and his teeth clenched. Hana continued, flipping idly through her book, unaware of how quickly she was burning Tai's already short fuse. "Most students that get into university get in because A, they are really smart, or B, they are filthy rich."

"Oh, yeah? Which one does Ryo fall under, I wonder?" he retorted.

Hana's jaw tensed at the comment. Her face scrunched up a bit before she stood up, tossing the book she had been reading on the couch. It narrowly missed hitting Tai in the arm.

"Both, actually, you jerk," she said proudly and loud enough for more than one spectator to hear.

Tai scowled at her turned back as she vanished behind a door leading to a stairwell. She came out of it shortly afterward, probably realizing that she was six floors up and that taking the stairs wasn't the best idea.

"I think she has a point, Tai," said Kari, when Hana had gotten into an elevator and was temporarily out of their company.

"Yeah, well, so do I," he stated defensively. In his frustration, he had crushed the piece of paper he was holding, never realizing that it held the number of the university girl he had chatted with moments earlier.

He picked up the book Hana had tossed aside and opened it where she had left off, stretching himself flat on the couch that was now all his. Frowning, he tried to read whatever material Hana had bookmarked on black holes but couldn't concentrate. Who was she to suggest that he couldn't pick up a university girl? Hadn't she encouraged him to do it? And what did she mean that university kids were smart or rich? Was she saying that he was neither?

With a snort, he set the book down and got up, beginning to pack up his things.

"We're leaving, Kari," he ordered. "It's getting late, anyway."

"Okay. Let me just find Hana and tell her we're leaving."

"Don't bother."

"It'll just take a few m—"

He didn't wait for her to finish. He slung his bag over his shoulder and headed for the elevator.

"We're going," he said. "Now."

With a sigh, Kari gathered her things and reluctantly joined her brother, though she was mindful to leave a note to Hana explaining their abrupt departure. Hopefully, she would understand. Kari looked with uncertainty back at the vacant lounge space, where Hana's things were left unattended. She cast her eyes up at her stern brother, who remained unmoved. Her shoulders slumped. _Hopefully_, Kari thought, _hopefully, she'll understand._

**A/N: I know, I know. FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT! Thought it was about time they had some genuine tension, even if it is petty. You know how teenagers are… **

**Thanks for reading!**


	10. Ten

xXx

TEN

xXx

**S**ora Takenouchi ran her hands over the fabric of a skirt displayed on a shop mannequin, her fingertips finding the smoothness of the material similar to the flower petals she so often handled alongside her mother. It was summer, and, ergo, it was wedding season, which meant lots of flower arrangements to keep both herself and her mother busy in their little boutique.

She shook her head and removed her hands from the skirt, troubled that she was thinking more about flowers than fashion when she was supposed to be out shopping with Hana. A quick glance over her shoulder placed her new friend a few feet away from her, eyebrows wrinkled as she stared at a pink top as if it were the greatest conundrum in the world. Sora realized, about five minutes into her shopping trip with Hana, that she wasn't as fashionably savvy as she imagined her to be. Perhaps she was disillusioned, thinking that since Hana was from France, she would have the perfect ideas for what was _en vogue_, but Hana proved clumsy and, frankly, too nice in her clothes shopping. Whenever Sora asked for her opinion on a shirt or pants or a combination of both, Hana would always say that they looked fine. It was during such moments that Sora wished Mimi was still around to give her honest fashion advice.

"Find anything you like?" she asked Hana, coming toward her.

Hana dropped the pink top she had been inspecting so scrupulously.

"No. How about you? I saw you eyeing that mini skirt over there for quite some time. Are you going to get it?"

"Oh." Sora blushed, not realizing she had examined the skirt for that long a time. "I… well… I don't know about it, actually."

Hana smirked.

"Well, you should try it on if you like it so much."

"But that's the thing. I don't know if I like it."

"Pfft. If you've been staring at it _that_ long, then you definitely like it."

Sora did not look convinced. She could only mutter a faint, "Maybe."

Hana's eyes narrowed in on her friend. She never took Sora to be this terribly fashion conscious, especially since she always had the impression that Sora was the type of girl who would opt for comfort over style.

"Just go for it, Sora," she heartened, giving her an assuring smile.

"Well, I guess if I get the skirt, you'll have to get that top. You've been looking it a long time, too."

Hana laughed.

"Huh. I guess you're right. Okay, Takenouchi. You get the skirt, I'll get the top, and maybe at the next store, we can find the other halves of our outfits."

"Deal."

As they stood in line to pay for their items, Sora couldn't help but notice one shopper going into a dressing room lugging an immeasurable amount of clothing. The sight brought a smile to her lips, reminding her again of Mimi, who had a habit of making the most out of every shopping trip she embarked on. Hana caught her smiling, and nudged her with her elbow.

"What's the grin for?"

"Oh, nothing. I just… shopping just reminds me of an old friend of mine."

"Oh? Was she like the girl who just walked into the dressing area with a mountain of clothes?"

Sora chuckled.

"Yeah. Mimi was that kind of girl. She didn't like going to a store to pick out just one thing and get out. She took her time, and she scoured every shelf and hanger for the best she could find. Shopping with her was really a work out."

"Mimi? I've heard that name tossed about by the boys. She seems to come up every time Matt or Tai want to pick on Izzy. She lives in New York, correct?"

Sora nodded.

"She says she might fly in for the Christmas season."

"Aw," Hana cooed. "That would be a perfect time to revisit old friends and family, what with the holiday cheer and all."

"Yeah. Whenever Mimi visits, she stocks up on so many Japanese snacks and items that she can't get in America. It's good to see that we still mean a lot to her."

Hana smirked, her mind suddenly drifting to Paris and all of the life and friends she left behind there.

"So…" she began, guiding their conversation down a different path, "Matt and Tai seem to be of the mind that Mimi and Izzy…"

"Oh, that." Sora's smile broadened. "Well, I don't really know how to explain it since none of us really know what went on. We assume there's something going on between her and Izzy—even if it would be long distance—but Izzy refuses to speak on the subject and Mimi just cleverly eludes all of my questions about it."

"So… they dated or are dat_ing_."

"Supposedly."

"Huh." Hana pondered on the discovery for a few moments. "A computer science whiz and a fashionista? Who'd have thought?"

"Well, it doesn't sound so strange when placed next to a rock star and a tennis player. Or a ballet dancer and a psychiatrist."

Sora had, of course, been referring to herself and Matt in the former analogy, but seeing as Hana was never filled in on the nature of their relationship, her friend only registered the latter one, which was clearly about her and Ryo.

"_Aspiring_ psychiatrist," Hana corrected. "He's not one yet, and I certainly don't want him going around talking as if he's Freud himself. That would drive me nuts, which would make me a prime candidate to be his first patient."

"Ryo does seem very knowledgeable in psychology, though, I have to admit," said Sora. "On the ride to the camping site, he told us about all of these psychological diseases, birth order theories. He's very smart, Hana."

"He is, isn't he? Now, if only Tai could agree."

"Tai?" Sora nearly squawked the name, the mention clearly not expected from her end of the conversation. "What did he do this time?"

"This time?" Hana repeated, laughing afterwards. "So he's pissed people off like this before? Makes sense. To keep it brief, he basically questioned whether or not Ryo is truly qualified to be in university. His snark wouldn't have bothered me so much if it weren't for the fact that he's no Einstein. So for him to make fun of my boyfriend's intelligence only puts him in a worse position."

"Wait… you fought?"

"With who?"

"Tai."

"… yes. A few days ago."

Sora processed the information with a deepening furrow in her brow. It explained why, at their lunch table, the two barely said a word to each other, and it also explained why Hana had taken to sitting next to Izzy, when normally she would have sat herself next to her science project partner.

"But don't you two have a project to finish?"

"Yes, but I'm not the one who needs a good grade. I can finish it by myself, but I don't want to do a good job and then have Tai mooch off my hard work and credit. I'm actually tempted to tell Mr. Tokoya that he's proved to be a lousy project partner."

"I'd… I'd hold off on that for as long as possible, Hana. I mean, I know Tai can be…"

"A jerk?"

"At times, yes, but he almost always comes around. Sort of. Sometimes you have to give him the okay to do so."

"You mean apologize first?"

"No..." Sora bit her lip. "Yes."

"Forget it, then."

"Hana. Tai's a good person. He just… he just sometimes forgets to mind what he says."

"So I've heard. Still, I'm not budging until he does. He insulted me and my boyfriend, Sora. I don't think I should be playing nice."

"Well, from what I know of Tai—and I've known him since we were kids—he usually doesn't fight back unless he has a reason."

Hana didn't say anything in response. Her mind recalled the comment she had made about him picking up a university girl, and she began to doubt whether or not her harmless joke was taken with more harm than intended. She glimpsed over at Sora, briefly, green eyes wide and open, but uncertain.

"I don't recall giving him any reason," she murmured, looking down afterwards.

Sora knew the expression of guilt when she saw it, and she set a hand on Hana's shoulder.

"This is heavy talk," she said, smiling. "Let's go get some ice cream."

Hana was thankful for the diversion, and she pushed back her regrets about arguing with Tai to the back of her mind. Though, now that the doubts were raised, she knew she wouldn't be able to escape them, regardless of how hard she tried to bury the past.

The girls had their ice cream fix, the two of them sitting on a mall bench with their shopping bags at their feet, Hana gesticulating with her plastic spoon in hand as she updated Sora on her ballet life. She told her about Ren, Emi and Max, the three dancers she considered her closest acquaintances in the corps, and their penchant for dry, almost insulting humor.

"They sound like characters," Sora commented idly. She was vaguely perturbed that Hana spent a lot of her life outside of school with people older than her—not that twenty-somethings were necessarily bad influences, but she was concerned nonetheless.

"Oh, they are," Hana replied. "Trust me. I hope you get to meet them one day just to see it for yourself."

They only stayed in the mall for maybe another hour, the slight aches in their feet signaling to them that they had been on the prowl for good deals for an extended period of time. Hana invited Sora over to her apartment to watch a French film, and the latter agreed, only because the plot summary Hana had given her seemed too scandalous and intricate to refuse.

Sora was disguisedly amazed upon seeing the interior of the Kurosawa residence. The ballet shoes hanging from a movable _barre, _the giant mirror beside it, the numerous photos of a tutu-and-tiara-clad Hana on a tall bookshelf. Upon closer inspection of the shelf, Sora found that some of the ballet photos weren't of Hana, but of a petite, auburn-haired woman with blue eyes.

"Is this…?" Sora began, never finishing her inquiry.

"Yep. That's _ma mère_." Hana joined her by the bookshelf, fists proudly on hips. She took one such photo of her mother and brought it down for the both of them to see.

Sora gazed at it openly.

"She's beautiful."

Hana laughed lightly.

"Thanks. I'm sure my mother would have appreciated the compliment. She was always told that she was pretty, but she didn't find the idea conceivable. She thought she was plain, too skinny, and too pale by French standards." Hana paused. "My dad says I look like her, but I grew up thinking that I looked more like him than my mom."

Sora looked up from the photo and studied Hana's profile briefly.

"I have to agree with your dad. You do kind of look like her."

Hana sighed and set the frame back on its space on the shelf.

"I guess it's about time I start acknowledging that fact then, eh? You happen to be guest number seven who has come to that conclusion. Tai, Kari, Yolei, T.K., Cody and Izzy are all of the same opinion." She crouched down to pick something up off of a lower shelf and retrieved a weathered, yellowed photo album.

"This is perhaps the most damning evidence," Hana declared, opening the book at a random spot. "It's an album of my mother growing up. My dad and I had asked _ma grandmère _in France for it before we left for Japan, and, considering that she had little reason to hold onto it any longer, she gave it to us to safekeep."

She motioned for Sora to follow her to the sofa, and the two girls sat, the album opened between them.

"Why would your grandma have no reason to keep it?" Sora asked, innocently.

"My mom died at the beginning of the year. Cancer," she said, bluntly, though without sounding cruel or bitter.

"Oh. I'm so sorry for your loss, Hana. I can't imagine it being easy losing a parent."

"It's okay. My dad and I are coping well. I mean, we're here and we're living, aren't we? It's just… different without her."

"If it's any consolation," Sora comforted, "my dad lives in Kyoto most of the time since he teaches there. When he first made the move out, my home felt so odd and fractured, off balance. It took a long time for both my mother and me to adjust to his long term absences."

"Exactly."

Hana pointed to a particular picture of her mother, one in which the late Mrs. Kurosawa was dressed in an elegant tutu, holding a bouquet of roses in one arm, a medallion hanging from her thin neck. She appeared no older than sixteen and was smiling in the picture. Sora glanced up from the photo to Hana and noticed that she shared the same happy grin.

"Do you ever think about your mother?" she asked, gently, aware that she might have struck a nerve.

Hana's smile faded somewhat. Her response came murmured, hushed, a mere, croaky whisper even though Sora was the only other person in the apartment with her. She sniffed slightly.

"All the time," she said. Her finger traced idly over another picture of her mother as a young woman, one in which she was posing in one of the Netherlands' famed tulip gardens. Sora gingerly placed a hand on Hana's bony shoulder, giving her a reassuring smile which was met in return.

After a short pause, Hana shut the album and returned it to its proper resting place on the shelf before going to the living room television and poking around in search of her movie.

"So, there are subtitles for this film, in case you want them. If not, I can always just tell you what's going on." She found the title she was looking for and turned around. "Would you like some popcorn?" she asked.

When the film was over and Sora had left, Hana sat for a moment on the living room couch, debating whether or not to start her homework. The pile of papers and books on her desk in her room desperately needed to decrease in size, but Hana was not keen on studying, especially with the way in which her project with Tai had turned out. She was tempted to check her email to see if he had given her any update on the status of their project from his end, but she decided that she shouldn't have been in a hurry to hear from him.

After all, she was supposed to be mad at him.

"_Garçon stupide_," she muttered, getting up and turning the computer on anyway.

Her body seized for less than a second when she saw that Tai had, indeed, replied to an email she had last sent him. She hesitated to open it, but her fingers seemed to act on the matter quicker than her mind, and before she knew it, she was reading Tai's current thoughts on how their now split project should continue.

_It's fine_, she typed in reply. Her mind drifted back momentarily to the heap of homework calling her name. A project of such proportions wasn't made to be completed solo, but Hana felt that that was what she would need to do in order to pass. Only, she didn't want to work alone.

_And... I'd like to talk about what happened at the library…_

Hana paused after she had typed the words, her eyes blinking in the face of the white glow of the computer monitor. Why was she even considering apologizing? Sora's kind nature must have rubbed off on her. That, and her unexpected heart-to-heart with the Takenouchi girl made her more inclined to be soft and forgiving.

_I'm sorry for what I said. It wasn't meant to be insulting. I really thought we were just joking around… _

She reread the flimsy apology with a bitterness rising in her mouth.

"No," she said aloud. Her middle finger mashed the "Backspace" button on her keyboard. She edited her original post further, deleting word after word until all that was left was a short, curt, "_Fine_."

Smirking, she pressed the "Send" button and leaned back in her chair, waiting for the confirmation that her email had reached its destination before she got up and laced on a pair of pointe shoes.

Setting her hand on her _barre_, she glanced at herself in the mirror, pondering over the likeness popular opinion said she shared with her mother. She corrected her posture some and raised her chin slightly, trying to emulate the picture of her mother that Sora had seen. But to do so only brought back unwanted memories, recollections of days spent in a white, sterile hospital, her father reading to her sleeping mother from her favorite novels. She remembered Ryo sitting with her in the hospital room, taking his vacation in France early in order to be with her family during their time of need, his hand gripping hers gently, assuredly, despite the inevitably that would befall them all.

The toes that had been _pointe_ perfect dropped to rest on the heels, and Hana watched herself in the mirror, wiping her nose with the back of her hand. She suddenly had no stomach for practicing ballet, and she returned to the sofa after rummaging through the bookshelf again. She lay recumbent on its cushions, flipping through pages of pictures until her father came home, surprised to find her asleep with one such album opened and pressed against her chest.


	11. Eleven

**A/N: A faster update! Woohoo! By the way, the next five or so chapters should be fun. At least, I hope they are. You be the judge. Thanks for reading! **

xXx

ELEVEN

xXx

**T**he subtle clink and clank of utensils on dinner plates irritated Hana more than she expected it to. Her father's low, mumbled comments about his day served as white noise in her ears, not necessarily distracting her from what was on her mind, but rather aggravating the issue consuming her thoughts.

Her green eyes looked somberly down at her half-eaten dinner of _coq au vin_, a rustic French dish that her mother used to make for her when she was feeling particularly rotten. She was glad that her father had remembered such a tradition (if it could be called such), but he wasn't the cook her mother was, which he admitted. Mr. Kurosawa had not needed to ask his daughter what had happened regarding her project with Tai. He soon deduced the answer himself, especially when he observed that Hana was no longer telling him that she would be home late because she was at Tai's or at the library. That Hana refused to mention the boy's name and the sour expression she wore whenever he brought Tai up in conversation also confirmed his suspicions.

He glanced over at his daughter from across the dining table. She poked absently at her food with her dinner fork, her elbow on the table and her cheek resting on a balled fist.

"You doing all right with your school work, Han?" he asked her.

"Yeah," she said, disinterested in the topic. She didn't look at him.

"Your project's due soon. You seem to have the deadline written on several post-its across the apartment—in your room, on the refrigerator, on the computer monitor…"

"So it is."

"Are you and Tai going to put your work together soon?"

Hana sighed heavily through her nose.

"Yes, Dad. We'll get it done."

"I don't see how you will if you don't call him."

"I'll shoot him an e-mail," she replied bitterly.

In the days since she had last contemplated proposing a truce to Tai, Hana's practices with the corps had intensified now that Nakamura saw that she was capable of keeping up with the older dancers. Even the amount of caffeine she swallowed on a daily basis didn't give her enough energy to make serious headway with her science project. Her tri-weekly tutoring sessions with Izzy also weren't helping her sleep. As much as she hated admitting it, she needed help, but she stubbornly clung to her forced resentment. She would not make the first move to apologize.

To avoid talking with her father further on the subject, Hana excused herself from the table to go into the kitchen to get a glass of water. She had just turned on the faucet and ducked a cup under the running stream when the doorbell rang.

xXx

Tai used the time to walk from his apartment complex to Hana's neighborhood to think about what it was that he was doing—or rather, what he was about to do. He would have been lying to himself if he had said that the last week had gone on just swimmingly. It hadn't. Leaving the university library abruptly with his sister seemed the best idea at the time, but looking back on it, he couldn't have made a stupider decision. What did he know of black holes? Didn't he fail the exam on astronomy? Wasn't his project due soon?

It took a few days and a long conversation with Matt (along with a few well-deserved smacks on the forehead) to admit that he had done wrong to sever his early friendship with Hana so close to their assignment deadline. At the time, he wasn't ready to confess his guilt to his project partner, and when he had emailed her suggesting that they do their parts separately and then put things together the day before the due date, he omitted any form of an apology.

Hana had replied with a curt agreement, also refraining from mentioning the incident at the library, and Tai had read it as a confirmation that she hated him. He wasn't new to ticking girls off. He was apparently very gifted in saying the wrong thing at the wrong time, but he nonetheless panicked about it, perhaps not necessarily because he was losing Hana as a friend, but more that, without her, he would surely fail their science class.

He hadn't bothered to call Hana beforehand to let her know that he was coming. He knew she would be at home, anyway, because he had called Izzy, who happened to have had a tutoring session with her earlier in the evening. What would he have done, anyway, if he had called her on the phone? Apologize and then wait for her to accept it, or, more likely, for her not to accept his apology at all? Or, worse, hang up immediately? Or, even more worse, listen to him and then tell him she'd call him back? In what? A millennium?

Tai knew he wouldn't have been able to endure the "what-ifs" for longer than twenty-four hours, so he found it best to first, catch Hana off-guard, and, second, to talk to her directly. Normally, he would have had to announce his arrival to Hana via the apartment intercom in order to be let into the building, but luckily someone was leaving the complex just as he arrived, allowing him to slip past the closing doors.

He pressed the doorbell to the Kurosawa residence without hesitation and stuffed his hands into his shorts' pockets to keep himself from poking the buzzer numerous times. His shoe tapped anxiously on the doormat.

With a click and a twist of the doorknob, the front door gave way, revealing Hana on the other side, her jaw dropping in surprise at his presence.

"Tai," she said, as if the name was foreign on her tongue. "What are you doing here?"

"I… uh…" He scratched his head and shifted his eyes away from her briefly. "I need to, er… talk to you."

Hana's brow furrowed and her green eyes scrutinized her project partner cruelly, skeptical of his request. Her anger ebbed almost as soon as it came, however, when she realized that he had come all the way from his own home to see her. The door was parted further.

"Come in, Tai," she said, turning around and beckoning him over her shoulder.

Mr. Kurosawa greeted Tai quickly, suddenly perceiving that his parental company was not only awkward, but undesired.

"I'll go grade some assignments," he said, excusing himself and going into his bedroom. He emerged shortly afterwards, saying that he had forgotten his students' papers in his car. When Mr. Kurosawa had grabbed his car keys and exited the apartment, Tai finally found room to speak, hoping that he wouldn't be interrupted.

Hana had gone back to her seat at the dinner table, her half-eaten meal still lying cold before her. She knew it was proper to have Tai sit down, but the invitation wouldn't come out of her mouth. She just sat in her chair, looking at him standing a ways off from her in the bit of hallway behind her father's chair at the head of the table. His unease was blatantly palpable.

"So you know how in my email I said that we could finish the project separately and then put our research together before its due?" he said, almost too hurriedly for Hana to understand right away.

"Yes," she said, after a long and uncomfortable pause. "Are we still sticking to that plan?"

"No." Tai was quick to reply. "I came here because I can't do my part without you."

Hana stared blankly back at him, unsure of what to make of his claim.

"I mean," he continued, reading her silence as a need to justify himself, "I failed the astronomy unit. Everything I read about black holes goes right over my head. Thinking back on it, I don't even know why I agreed to this topic because I know next to nothing about what makes the galaxy spin." He gestured to her. "You seemed to know what you were doing, so I let you take charge."

"You didn't have to agree with me, Tai," she said.

"That's not the point, Hana," he snapped, immediately regretting it afterwards. "If I had taken the lead, we'd be doing a project on volcanoes… or some other dumb thing." His mouth worked to form the right response. He got into too much trouble speaking before thinking, and so he would think long and hard about what he had to say in order to set things right again.

"I'm sorry about what I said at the library… about Ryo." The words seemed to escape his lips miserably. "It was a jerk move. I'm sorry. I just can't finish this project without your help."

Hana leaned back in her chair, bringing her knees up and resting them against the edge of the table, her heels perched on her seat. Her gaze softened on him in the time she took to assess his apology, though the perceptible sweat on his forehead did help him earn her pity.

She got up from her seat.

"Tai," she said gently. He tentatively raised an eyebrow at her.

"Yeah?"

"Do you want some ice cream?"

The question caught him so off guard that he didn't know how to respond. He stared at her, perplexed, wondering if she had really just replied to his apology with an invitation to eat dessert.

"Uh, sure?" he said, not really knowing what else to say.

Hana picked up her dinner plate and went into the kitchen, dumping it into the sink before opening the freezer and pulling out a carton of cookie dough ice cream. A short minute later and she was back in the dining room, two spoons in one hand.

"Sit," she said, pointing to her father's chair at the head of the table.

Tai sat, running a hand through his hair in his confusion. He had just spilled out his guts to Hana and she responded by offering him ice cream. It must have been a French thing.

Hana took the seat to his left and set the ice cream carton on the table somewhere in between the two of them. She gave him a spoon.

"You don't mind sharing, right?" she asked as she pried the lid off the dessert, her spoon already wedged between her teeth.

"Um… no." It was a lie. He would have preferred having his own bowl, but he was trying to appease her any way possible. She hadn't, after all, given him a clear sign that she had forgiven him, yet.

"Good. 'Cause when I went shopping with Sora this past weekend, I went to get ice cream and asked her if she wanted some, too. When I came back with one serving and two spoons she looked at me as if I'd grown two heads."

She laughed lightly afterwards, dunking her utensil into the frozen treat.

"I figured it was a Japanese thing," she said, swallowing a large dollop of ice cream, "to be so wary about who invades your space. She went along with it, though, and I assured her I wasn't going to spread her any disease."

As amusing as her story was, Tai couldn't remain distracted for too long. He hadn't even picked up his spoon nor even looked at the ice cream in front of him. He just kept looking at her, wondering how she could suddenly act as if she were his best friend when, moments earlier, she seemed to hate him to the core.

"Hana," he said sternly, interrupting her before she could stuff another spoonful into her mouth. "Are we…" He waved a hand in between them. "… okay?"

His project partner sucked subtly at her teeth before setting her spoon on the tabletop and leaning toward him.

"Yeah," she said, keeping his stare, "we are. And, for what it's worth, Tai, I'm sorry for what I did, too. If anyone pulled a jerk move first, it was me. I mean, I was the one who told you that that girl thought you were cute. I shouldn't have made fun of you when you actually went up to talk to her. I guess I wasn't expecting you to have the guts to do it."

He smiled faintly back at her.

"I thought she'd appreciate some enthusiasm," he admitted, picking up his spoon and dipping it into the carton.

"Nothing wrong with that," she replied, stealing the piece of cookie dough that he was aiming for. "Lots of girls like a guy with spunk."

"Yeah, well, it won't matter. I lost her number."

Hana startled him by giving him a nudge in the shin with her bare foot.

"All the more reason to go back to the library to find her again," she said, beaming back at him midchew.

"I have a feeling we're going to be there a lot over the next week."

"Oh? Why's that?"

He laughed feebly, his hand scratching the back of his head.

"Well… I haven't, um, exactly _done_ anything for our project in the past week…"

Shortly after his confession, Hana stole the ice cream carton from him just as he was about to dive into it again and quickly put it back in the freezer.

"I'm afraid my hospitality ends there, Tai," she said, approaching him and poking his forehead with her index finger. "We have to put this sucker here to use." She couldn't help but smile at the disgruntled face he returned back at her, his stare gone crosseyed as he looked at her finger. She laughed.

"There's a lot of work to do."


	12. Twelve

xXx

TWELVE

xXx

** I**t was done.

_Finally. Done. _

After weeks of dedicated labor, his science project was at last finished. The actual completion was done at Hana's apartment, where he was helping her with last additions to the poster board they'd be using for their presentation. The research paper bit of their project was already done, printed and fitted snugly in a portfolio. Hana had wanted to decorate the poster with cutouts of stars and had requested Tai's assistance. He was revolted by the idea at first, but went along with it when he remembered that there were additional points for creativity. When at last he stuck the last yellow star onto the black cardboard, he threw his arms up in the air and let out an echoing cry of victory.

Hana laughed and joined in on the revelry, punching her fists into the air.

"We should celebrate after we've given our presentation," she suggested, when they had both calmed down. "Maybe you could… uh… call up that university girl now that you got her number again."

Her comment made red pool in two distinct spots on Tai's face. He coughed deliberately.

"Uh… that… won't be happening."

"Why not?"

"Blame Davis."

Hana tried her best to suppress a chortle.

"What'd Mr. Suave-O do this time?"

Tai reluctantly related the story to her, saying that he and Davis had run into the girl from the library at a burger joint after soccer practice. She had come up to him asking about setting up a date, and Davis, overhearing the conversation, had outright burst: "But you're still in high school, Tai!" to which Tai replied back by clamping Davis's big mouth shut with one hand while the other sent him a well deserved elbow in the ribs.

The entire situation concluded with Tai's prospective date saying, a tad uneasily, "Umm… I'll get back to you on this," before promptly leaving. It only occurred to Tai several minutes later that he had never given her _his_ number, which meant that she would have no way of contacting him. The day after, Davis complained ceaselessly of a sore skull, no doubt due to the numerous noogies Tai gave him for ruining yet another chance at having a girlfriend.

"So… yeah. No university girl to celebrate with, so I plan celebrating by _sleeping_... for a _long_ time after we turn this thing in to Mr. Tokoya," said Tai.

He leaned back in his chair, folding his arms behind his head and sighing in anticipation of his days of relaxation—only to be cut off when he had tipped back too far and nearly fell on the floor. He caught the edge of the dining table in time to save himself. Hana looked at him, faintly bemused by his clumsiness.

"Well, judging by those eye bags, Kamiya," she gestured at his face, "I think you deserve such a break."

"Eye bags!" He grumped. "What about you, Kurosawa? You look like you haven't seen the sun or eaten in days."

"Well, I intend to stuff my face at a sushi bar after we present," said Hana, not at all insulted. "You are welcome to join me. Then, I will get ice cream, and I may even eat it outside to catch some sun because I am so horrifically pale to you, Mr. I-Am-Tan-All-Year-Round."

"You'll probably just get burnt… Ow!"

Hana kicked him under the table. He glared at her briefly, still unimpressed with her physical comebacks despite having endured many a swat, nudge and poke from her—usually done because of something he had said. She only smiled pertly back at him.

"You do realize that you won't be able to sleep for at least another week?" she said.

Concern spread over Tai's face.

"Why?" he asked.

Hana looked at him, puzzled.

"Tai, we have exams starting next week."

xXx

The first thing Matt did upon seeing Hana and Tai exit the school building was hail them with some words of congratulation. The duo had presented their project before their science class earlier that morning, and Matt had to admit that they did an excellent job given the time allotted to them. All day he had been thinking about space and black holes, his head, for the most part, literally in the clouds.

His meeting them after school, however, also served an alternate agenda. It hadn't escaped his notice that Tai had been spending an awful lot of his time with the prospective dancer. He acknowledged that most of the frequent meetings between soccer captain and ballerina were done out of necessity, but Matt had an inkling that something else was brewing—something, he assumed, not entirely academic. The prospect of Tai actually finding a capable girlfriend was too good to ignore, even if it was only a suspicion.

When the duo approached him, he did his best to observe any telling signs of attraction between the two. His blue eyes greeted them both with a slight squint, which Hana and Tai perceived as a reflex to the sun pouring down on them. Matt issued his praise to the pair sincerely, for as curious as he was about the nature of their friendship, he still had a part of his mind wrapped around black holes and the cosmos.

"You're too sweet, Matt," said Hana in reply to the compliment. She stood a foot away from Tai, her arms clutching a computer programming textbook. Tai was beside her in just as comfortable a pose, his bookbag slung over one shoulder and his free arm lax by his side. "I'm glad part of Tai's efforts stimulated some academic curiosity in you."

Matt chuckled.

"Yeah. Most of the stuff he does doesn't actually make you think hard about anything… except maybe why his hair's so big."

The person with the big hair frowned considerably.

"You'd better call the Emperor, Han," said Tai gruffly, crossing his arms. "Matt just pulled a funny. That won't happen again in fifty years."

With a light simper, she patted Tai's stiff shoulder with her hand, and his arms unfolded and his frown eased back into a smirk.

"Anyway," she said, "it's a Friday afternoon. I just finished a huge project, and I want to sneak in some relaxation time before I have to get back to studying for our exams. I'm getting sushi and ice cream. You two want to come with?" She had already taken a few steps forward.

"That's an odd combination," remarked Matt, already in pursuit.

"Well, ideally, it would be a burger and ice cream kind of day, but the ballet director wants me to lose a few pounds, so sushi it is."

Matt shrugged.

"I'm up for it."

He and Hana looked back at Tai, waiting for his answer.

"Oh, why not," said Tai, giving Hana a nod. "I was going to take nap..."

"Plenty of time for that later, Taichi," said Hana, already grabbing him by the elbow and lugging him forward. "Food awaits!"

The three of them opted to walk to their point of interest, a sushi bar near the metro station close to the neighborhood Matt and Tai lived in. The weather was inviting, with sun and clear skies and a warm wind. Both boys in attendance were somewhat jealous that Hana was wearing a skirt while their legs were stuck in uniform pants. It was too hot to wear a collared shirt and slacks, and Tai had already taken off the green jacket and tied it around his waist, the sleeves of his white uniform shirt rolled up above his elbows. Matt remained fully garbed albeit uncomfortable while the three of them chatted, their conversation varying from weekend plans to study strategies to the whereabouts of Sora Takenouchi, which Matt was more than happy to provide.

"She's shopping with her mom," he said. "We're hanging out later tonight for dinner and a movie."

"Oh?" said Hana, her green eyes brightening. "_Comme c'est mignon!_" She giggled afterwards, apologizing for her outburst in French. "How cute! I bet you she's looking for a dress to wear right now."

Matt blushed, scratching an imaginary itch somewhere behind his right ear. He hadn't exactly told Hana flat out that he and Sora were dating, as it was something the both of them had decided to downplay when with friends.

Hana, reading his embarrassment, gave him a comforting pat on the shoulder.

"Thought I wouldn't figure it out, Ishida?" she teased. "It was tough to spot, but _some_ of your buddies—I won't say _who_—" She jerked a thumb over her shoulder at Tai. "—weren't so subtle in describing your relationship." Matt continued looking at her with a raised eyebrow, though his blush seemed to be on the ebb. "In other words," said Hana, "whenever I asked him what you were up to, he usually said that you and Sora were out on a date."

Matt shifted his blue eyes to Tai, who shrugged in response, avoiding eye contact.

"Hey, what I always said was true," he said dully in his defense. "Besides, she and Sora do girl things together. Hana would have figured it out eventually."

"So…" Hana nudged Matt gently with her elbow. "For how long?"

"… almost two years," answered Matt, after a long pause. He smiled thinly, catching, out of the corner of his eye that Tai wasn't paying any attention to the conversation. If anything, his steps had quickened somewhat.

"Wow," Hana replied, amazed. She was about to say more when Matt interrupted her.

"Hana, could we… uh… talk about this later… maybe when Sora's around?"

The girl was more than delighted to agree.

"Sure, Matt. I wouldn't want to make you uncomfortable."

Matt chuckled uneasily. _He_ certainly wasn't the one uncomfortable, but he had a feeling someone _else_ was.

By the time they reached the sushi bar and occupied three stools at the counter, the topic of their conversation had switched to the upcoming summer holiday. The boys didn't have any particular plans for their long-anticipated break, except maybe visiting grandparents one weekend. Hana wished she could have been as lucky with her vacation options. She told them that she had to go to summer school in order to catch up with the rest of their class. Some of her credits from France didn't transfer, and so she would have to make up for them during the holiday.

"Well, that sucks," said Tai, characteristically insensitive. He stuffed a sushi roll into his mouth. "You're new to Japan, too. I would have thought you'd visit other sites in the country."

Hana was tempted to wipe the stray grains of rice that stuck to his chin.

"My dad is going to travel… mostly to meet up with old friends of his," she said. "He promised to take me out of Tokyo for at least one weekend, but we're not sure which, yet."

"So you're just going to stay in school for another month?" asked Matt. He swirled some wasabi in a little saucer of soy sauce with his chopsticks.

Hana nodded.

"Yeah, pretty much." She sighed afterwards. "I'm sure it won't be too ba—"

She cut off when she felt her pocket vibrate, and she fished out her phone to see who was calling her. At the name that came up on the screen, she got up from her stool and excused herself from their company. Matt noticed as she passed by him, her cell phone already pressed to her ear, that she was speaking in French.

A few moments of silence occupied the space between Matt and Tai. Hana had been sitting in between them, and with her gone, it seemed like a wall had been suddenly removed. Tai had finished his plate of sushi and was reaching to pilfer an untouched roll on Hana's plate when Matt spoke to him.

"Glad to get Tokoya out of your hair?" he said. Tai went ahead and plucked the roll off of Hana's plate.

"Boy, am I," Tai replied. "I'll never have to see that guy's face for the rest of high school!" He whooped afterwards, throwing a fist into the air.

A harsh "_Shh!_" from a neighboring diner reminded Tai that he was, in fact, still indoors, and he was in the middle of making a face at the annoyed customer when Matt laughed lightly.

"No doubt because of Hana and her bossiness, right?" he said.

"Yeah," Tai readily admitted, his brow gradually wrinkling at the realization. His eyes focused on his plate where the sushi roll he had taken from Hana's meal was still sitting. He noticed that he hadn't used much of the wasabi on his plate, and an idea suddenly entered his head. "She was the brains behind everything," he continued. "I owe her."

"Maybe pay for her meal."

Matt didn't look at Tai when he had asked it. It was intended to be a harmless proposal, but, still, he was curious to see if Tai would actually agree. His friend wasn't very liberal with his money, even with friends.

"Yeah…" Tai nodded.

Matt forced himself to stay focused on his food, but his eyebrows arched at Tai's answer.

"I might just do that," he continued. "Hopefully, she doesn't order twelve plates of food." Tai took the large lump of wasabi off his dish and removed some of the filling in the sushi roll, replacing what was taken out with the spicy green paste that he had only ever used in moderation (excluding the occasional dare).

Matt glanced over at him, wondering why he was suddenly clinking his chopsticks more than usual.

"You're _not_…" he said, a moan coming up the back of his throat.

"What?" Tai smiled wickedly. "It's just a little prank, Matt, one which you've done yourself."

"Yeah, on _you_," he retorted. "Are you forgetting that Hana's a girl and that, not too long ago, she gave you the cold shoulder for insulting her boyfriend?"

"You're talking like she's going to breathe fire in my face or something. It's just a joke."

He finished doctoring the sushi roll and placed it back on Hana's plate, but not before smearing the bottom of it with more wasabi.

"You're just going to get slapped in the face."

Hana returned a few minutes later, easing onto her stool and immediately grabbing her chopsticks. Tai had just ordered another plate for himself, and he greeted her with a smile. Matt covered his face with his hand, muttering, "Oh, brother," into his palm before asking Hana, casually, who had called her.

"It was my aunt," she replied. To Tai's dismay, she picked up a different roll on her plate, dodging the wasabi bomb he had planted. "She was just checking up on how my dad and I are adjusting to life in Japan. I guess she couldn't get a hold of my dad since he's teaching during the day."

"Do you have a lot of family in France?" asked Tai. He was trying to keep her occupied on the conversation so that she wouldn't look too closely at her food. The corner of his mouth kicked up when he saw her set her chopsticks on the doctored sushi roll.

"Just my mom's family, really," she said. "My mom only had one other sibling, her sister, and my aunt's currently fifty and unmarried with no chil—"

Hana choked midsentence, panic streaking her face. Her hand flew to her mouth, while the other began to flap frenziedly as her eyes watered and her nose filled with a stinging pain. Seconds later she was coughing and groaning whenever her throat hurt too much to cough anymore.

The laughter that bombarded her on her right gave away the perpetrator of such agony, but Hana was in too much discomfort to retaliate any time soon. When the waiter gave her some water after Matt had signaled that it was needed as soon as possible, Hana's face was still scrunched up in pain, her body hunched over the counter. Tai, who was nearly crying from laughter, got up and threw an arm over her shoulder while she chugged down the much-needed beverage.

"_Taichi Kamiya_," she began, nearly grinding her teeth.

Speaking only prompted more unwanted pain, and she never finished her original threat. She let the cold water do its magic instead, opting to say, some few minutes later, "I know not what to do with you." She exhaled afterwards, her nose and mouth still recovering from the bite of wasabi, and her tongue feeling numb and heavy in her jaw.

He was still laughing.

"I'll get you ice cream afterwards," he said when he needed to catch a breath.

Hana glared at him briefly before her pout shifted into a thin smile. If she could get a free dessert out of him, then she would take it, despite him having pranked her good.

"Gallons of it, if you please," she added.

Tai fulfilled her request and bought her a carton of ice cream from a local creamery, and he found it entirely fair that she picked the largest size and the most expensive flavor. Hana's reaction to the wasabi was priceless, anyhow. He wished he had gotten it on camera.

He sat, currently, in a chair opposite his project partner at a circular café table, the umbrella hanging over them partly blocking out the sun. Hana had elected to sit at the sunnier side of the table, and so Tai was stuck in the shade, his ice cream finished and the spoon he had used balanced on the tip of his nose.

Hana was paying him no attention and stared at passersby and cars going to and fro down the street. Matt had left them when they exited the sushi bar, band practice calling his name. He was sure to remind them, however, that he had a show the next day, and it was only then that he realized that Hana had never attended one of his shows. When he had pointed the fact out to her, she blushed and made up excuses, saying that she always had something to do, and if she didn't, something always came up.

"On a Saturday night?" Matt had asked, dubiously. He was grinning at her but his eyebrow was raised, her fib obviously exposed.

"Well…" She ground the toe of her shoe in the cement sidewalk. "I've always wanted to go… it's just… I would feel silly going alone and—"

She was rescued from embarrassing herself further by Tai's welcome, "_Pfft_."

"You could always come with me, you know," he had said, almost offended that she hadn't on previous occasions. "We all go as a group and then hang out afterwards."

"So you're coming tomorrow, right, Hana?" said Matt, already nodding at her to set the example.

"But I don't have a ticket." She clenched her teeth after uttering the excuse. It was already clear that she _wanted_ to go, but what she didn't understand was why she was still trying to get out of it.

"I'll take care of that," Matt said. "Don't worry about it. I'll see you two tomorrow." He waved them goodbye and headed off to the metro station, blond hair blowing faintly in the summer breeze.

Hana looked back down at her half eaten serving of ice cream, the remnants of which were melting gradually around the edges. Her lap was awfully cold despite the sunshine falling on her. More than once she had reached up to adjust her headband only to touch her hot, dark hair. She hoped her face hadn't already burned.

"You get the wasabi taste out of your mouth yet?"

Hana turned at the question, only to find Tai leaned back in his chair, his spoon still balanced on his nose.

"Yeah," she said. "Brain freeze kind of does that for you. How long have you been doing that?" She pointed at his face.

"About ten minutes."

She laughed.

"Amazing." Her voice oozed sarcasm. She dipped her own spoon back into her carton and took in another cold mouthful. "So what time should I meet you for Matt's show tomorrow?"

Tai shrugged on instinct, the movement causing the spoon to nearly slip off. He steadied it with a quick hand.

"I don't know. Maybe Kari and I will just go over to your neighborhood since Yolei, T.K., and Cody are there, too. Then we can head out together."

"Around what time?" she asked, more sternly this time. He hadn't exactly answered her question.

"Seven-ish? I'm not sure. Plans might change. Maybe we'll want to get dinner before the show. In that case, we'll be meeting earlier." He shifted his stare to her. "Why?"

She gave him a look, as if his innocent inquiry were the strangest thing imaginable.

"A girl needs her time to get ready before she goes out for the night, Tai," she said matter-of-factly. "I'd need at least an hour."

"Geez. What for? It's just Matt's band and maybe dinner."

Hana tsk-ed at him, uttering some mild scold in French under her breath.

"So a girl can't look nice when she goes out to town?" she said.

Tai remained unfazed by the challenge.

"Not if she already does," he said. "Otherwise, what's the point? She might just steal the show, and I don't think Matt would want that."

"Right," said Hana, drawing the word out. She smiled down at her ice cream carton and spoke softly. "We wouldn't want her to upstage Matt, now, would we?"


	13. Thirteen

**A/N: I live! Sorry for my lack of updates. I ran into some plot knots for later chapters of this story. Plus, I felt like I needed to edit some of these upcoming chapters, too. But you all don't need to know that, so… skip to the chapter! **

xXx

THIRTEEN

xXx

**T**ai had lost track of the time he had spent staring down at his exam, the butt of his pencil tapping vigorously on his desk top. Occasionally, he would glance up at the classroom clock, but it was as though he forgot to read time whenever he looked at it. All he knew was that he was done with his exam, and everyone else was still scribbling furiously at their desks. Something, clearly, wasn't adding up.

Admittedly, he hadn't set aside much time to study for Mr. Tokoya's exam. He was confident that his and Hana's project would bump his grade up to passing, but in his inability to plan ahead, he had forgotten that the cumulative exam at the end of the trimester could very much drop him back to failing. It was at the last minute that he had called Hana over to help him study. He and Matt had already spent an hour reviewing, but astronomy was still an enigma to him. Matt had explained to him that Hana wasn't exactly the best study partner. After all, she had missed most of the trimester, and she herself wasn't going to take the exam because she came into the marking period late. Tai persisted despite those givens.

"It's worth a shot, Matt," he had said.

Hana had agreed to stop by for only an hour. While she didn't have many exams herself to study for, she had taken advantage of the extra time not studying to have more private ballet lessons at the studio.

She did what she could to explain concepts to Tai, though, as Matt had stated earlier, she wasn't present for the unit, and so could offer little more than explain to them what she had learned when in France. She would have liked to have been of more assistance to them both, but she ultimately left them earlier than expected when she realized she was only adding to Tai's frustration. "Just try to get some sleep, you two," she said before she shut the door to the Kamiya apartment.

And so it was with a mix of amazement and fear that Tai found himself the morning of his exam, his test already finished and with lots of time to spare. It was why he kept looking at the clock. The quickness with which he completed everything didn't make sense. If anything, it was making him nervous.

He was _sick_ of Mr. Tokoya making him nervous.

Snatching the exam papers up from his desk, he got up from his seat and marched proudly up to Mr. Tokoya's desk at the side of the room, setting his exam down with a loud slap.

"Mr. Kamiya," began Mr. Tokoya in his usual low drawl. He flipped idly through the examination packet, unfazed by Tai's boisterous entrance. "The first to turn in your exam. I hope you didn't leave anything unanswered."

"Nope. Everything's there, Mr. Tokoya," said the boy.

His science teacher sucked subtly at his teeth before setting the exam neatly aside and picking up another set of papers lying atop his desk. He handed them to Tai.

"Your project grade, Mr. Kamiya, and that of Miss Kurosawa—who is not here at the moment—complete with my comments."

Unable to help himself, Tai breezed through the pages of comments in order to set his eyes on the final project grade. Mr. Tokoya examined the boy closely, waiting for the lifting of the eyebrows before speaking so that he could stop his student from proclaiming his elation to the rest of the class.

"Surprisingly thorough work, Mr. Kamiya," he said tonelessly. "It seems I will _not_ be seeing you in summer school. Though…" His voice darkened."…I am loathe to question just how much of this was _your_ work as opposed to Miss Kurosawa's. I wonder if you know this material as well as you will need to for next trimester."

Tai's face scrunched up at the ominous words of his science instructor. Mr. Tokoya _always_ had to ruin every good moment. He wouldn't even let him be happy with a passing grade in the class for even a few minutes.

"If I think I don't, Mr. Tokoya," he said dourly, "I'll be sure to let you know."

"Good." Mr. Tokoya plucked a red pen from a pencil holder and picked Tai's exam up again. "I hope you will show some responsibility for what work you _have_ done and for what you _clearly_—" The pen tip swooped across the front page. Tai cringed. "—have yet to learn."

xXx

Hana Kurosawa adjusted the white headband she was wearing on her head, her eyes staring directly into one of the mirrors in the girls' bathroom. Other girls were in attendance, doing their own business, some, like her, glimpsing into the mirror to make sure they still looked presentable.

She picked at the burn on her hand which she received Saturday night when she went to see Matt's show with Tai and the others. An unfortunate bout with her curling iron resulted in her battle wound. Tai had noticed the mark more than he had noticed how her hair was curly instead of straight. He had asked her about it, going so far as to lift the injured limb up for closer inspection, which she quickly retrieved from his possession.

Even though Tai had responded to the movement with an uneasy chuckle and a shift of his stare away from her, Hana had done it more out of defensiveness rather than embarrassment. When she met up with his group, she was hoping no one would notice the burn, and so when Tai expressed concern over it, he unintentionally made her more self-conscious than she desired to be.

After running her hands under cold water, Hana finished her vain self-inspection in the girls' bathroom and headed for the cafeteria, her fingers still fidgeting with her white headband. She successfully dodged a conversation with some basketball players who jeeringly asked her if she kept fiddling with her hair accessory to make sure her head didn't fall off. The goad was ignored, and Hana maneuvered through the clot that was their cheerleader entourage, her green eyes finding relief in the sight of her friends as their lunch table came into view.

The topic of discussion she was met with upon her arrival was expected.

Izzy, Sora and Matt were sustaining a conversation about their exams, the three of them having more or less positive things to say. Tai, however, had his head in a supine position again on the tabletop, face first, and any contribution he had to their discourse was murmured.

"Let me guess," Hana began, seating herself beside Sora. "Tokoya's exam?"

"It wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be," Matt replied. "Tai actually finished first. Over-achiever."

"Oh?"

Hana switched her green gaze to the champion of science just mentioned. He didn't even look up.

"Bull," Tai muttered. "I saw Tokoya writing all over my exam while I sat at my desk until the end of class. And before that he had to tell me—in his Myotismon-voice-of-doom—that I just about cheated on my project with Hana by taking credit for work that he doesn't think is entirely mine."

He paused to breathe and finally decided to face his project partner, who was silently thankful that she didn't have to stare at his bird's nest of a head anymore.

"We got an A, by the way," he said, just as miserably. "Not that it'll matter for me."

"Oh, I'm sure you did fine," Hana comforted—unsuccessfully. Tai did not appear consoled. His forehead rested against the tabletop again. "Well, if it will help you any, I can go to Mr. Tokoya and tell him that you _did_ do your half of the project and you _did_ do it well. Maybe—"

"It would be a waste of time on your part, Hana," Izzy interrupted. "What's done is done. Mr. Tokoya will give you what you earn, Tai."

"I'm sorry I can't be a walking brain like you," Tai retorted, snorting indecorously afterwards.

"Please, don't say that," Izzy replied earnestly. "You just conjured up images of Vademon I'd have rather left to the recesses of my memory." He shook his auburn head slightly, refocusing on the topic at hand. "If you can't handle Mr. Tokoya," he resumed, "you're going to have a tough time next trimester. The science teacher you'll have next is as strict if not stricter than him."

Izzy was speaking from experience, and the severity of his tone suggested that such a fact deserved thorough consideration.

"Who can be worse than Tokoya?" Tai asked, lifting his head.

"His ex-wife."

The thud that resulted from Tai slamming his forehead onto the table made the chopsticks in Hana's hands fly out of her grip. She was on her hands and knees retrieving them while Tai uttered woeful groans up at the ceiling.

"Expect daily quizzes, pop quizzes, three papers, a project, several unit tests, a cumulative final exam…"

"Don't say anymore, Izzy," Tai said. "You're going to give me indigestion."

"I would think that would be the least of your problems, Tai."

"Well… at least this is the last day you'll ever have to see Tokoya," Matt said, hoping to cheer up his comrade. He switched his attentions to Hana who had suddenly resurfaced from below the table, chopsticks back in hand. "I wish I could say the same for you, Hana."

The girl shrugged. Hana had made it known to her friends that her academic performance for the half of the trimester was doomed, which was why she reiterated that she was summer school bound.

"I don't mind," she said, a tad unconvincingly. "Whatever it takes to make me graduate on time. So my summer will be duller than a rock, but at least I won't be failing anything…" She paused when she realized what she had said and whom she had said it in front of. "Not that… you know… anyone here is _failing_ anything…" She smiled uneasily at Tai who was already glaring at her. "I'm sure you'll do fine, Kamiya," she said. "I mean… despite Izzy's tutoring sessions, I've still elected to flunk out of my computer programming class so that I could take a preparatory class over the summer. Then, I'll retake the class in its entirety next trimester—"

"Shut up, Hana."

She obliged without taking offense, using her lips to eat rather than speak.

Matt gave Tai an encouraging pat on the shoulder, but despite his friends' attempts to console him, he couldn't help but be haunted by Mr. Tokoya's last words to him.

_I hope you will show some responsibility for what work you _have_ done…_

But what work had he really accomplished? Were it not for Hana he would still be failing science class, and yet, he was the one who would have the free summer and his project partner would be the one stuck in the classroom. He glanced over at her when she was engaged in a conversation with Izzy about the current class her father was teaching at Tokyo University. Her hand was on the table, the burn mark in full view. He hadn't forgotten what he had unknowingly done on Saturday night. A part of him wondered how he could have just naturally taken her hand in the way he had done, as if he had done it numerous times previous, and the swiftness with which she pulled her fingers out of his own still made hot mortification bleed into his face.

She caught him staring at her and made a face at him, all in good jest as signaled by the wink that followed. He smiled faintly in return before looking away, down at his hands, which were suddenly damp with perspiration.

He frowned somewhat.

"So… about summer sch—"

His attempt to introduce a new point of conversation was left unrecognized, for the pitches in Sora's and Hana's voices had suddenly escalated. The only word Tai managed to catch in the feminine din was "Kyoto."

"What about Kyoto?" he asked, hoping his use of the buzzword would grab someone's attention.

"Sora's going to visit her dad for a bit during the summer," Matt answered, though he didn't appear as thrilled as his girlfriend about the news.

"So why're _you_ all giddy?" Tai asked, pointing at Hana.

"Ryo attends Kyoto University, Tai," Hana reminded him. "Granted, he hasn't taken any of Professor Takenouchi's classes, but still..."

"Maybe my dad and I can invite him to lunch or something," Sora suggested. "It's the least I can do while you're stuck in school."

"Ryo will actually be in Australia for the summer," said Hana. Her reply made Tai unconsciously exhale with a whistle, and Hana gazed at her circle of friends, wondering why all of their eyebrows had suddenly arched up.

"His mom lives there, which I'm pretty sure I told you all before," she explained. "Plus, the ballet company is going on tour for the summer. They'll be doing a show in Sydney while Ryo is there, and he and his mom want to see the production."

"You mean he'll actually sit through one of those?" Tai spoke before he could check himself. All of Kari's performances that he had attended set him to sleep almost instantly.

"Yeah, he will," Hana said coolly. "Believe it or not, Tai, some young people out there possess refined tastes."

Izzy snickered at the subtle jibe, to which Tai responded by elbowing him in the ribs.

"So… what?" Tai resumed, changing the course of their conversation. "You're going to stay in school while everyone around you—even Ryo—is having fun in the sun?"

"Pretty much." Hana sucked at her teeth—both because she was irritated that Tai had to (again) bring up the fact that she'd have a lackluster summer and because she had food stuck in her teeth. "But that's what I get, right?" she said, almost bitterly. She sighed afterwards and attempted a smile. "I guess I'll just have to keep reminding myself that I'm not in France anymore."

xXx

This was the second time during the trimester that Tai found himself lingering outside of Mr. Tokoya's classroom door after school, and to be in such a position again annoyed him—not because he believed he shouldn't have had to resort to negotiating with his science teacher, but because Mr. Tokoya had the uncanny and irritating ability to always be right.

Muttering what a load of bull the situation was under his breath, Tai opened the door to the classroom and walked in, his abrupt presence neither surprising nor intimidating the rarely impressed teacher.

"Mr. Kamiya," he said as Tai approached his desk. "If you are here about your exam grade, I can give you my answer right now—"

Tai cut him off. He knew his exam grade was awful, and he didn't need his teacher—who seemed to delight in his failure—to tell him that.

"Can I still sign up for summer school?" he asked in a tone that made the question sound more like a demand.

"I'm afraid registration for any summer classes—either for advancement purposes or to improve previously subpar academic performances—is closed, Mr. Kamiya. Perhaps you should have seen me sooner, in which I would have told you in time that I recommend you retake this class."

"But I'd like to." Tai persisted.

Mr. Tokoya raised his eyebrows at his student, a reaction not commonly witnessed from the apathetic man.

"Retake the class, I mean," Tai clarified. His foot tapped angrily on the tile of the classroom floor. Why couldn't he just receive the okay and get out? He was signing away his summer to this man, anyway. The least he could do was be quick about it.

"Mr. Kamiya, you _have_ a passing grade in this class, though the margin between your grade and failure is as thin as a human hair. I thought the grade itself would be enough for you."

Tai suppressed a growl in his throat. His teacher just wanted him to confess that he actually wanted to learn—that the science class he had slept through most of the time was, all of a sudden, important enough to him to retake it during his summer break.

"Yeah, well, I don't want to have to repeat this again next trimester," Tai said.

What he witnessed next was Mr. Tokoya's rare, spine-chilling smiles. The teenager grimaced.

"I am glad Miss Kurosawa's study habits have influenced you somewhat. Fortunately for you, I think you may just benefit from retaking this class. I'll add you to the list."

The easiness with which Mr. Tokoya agreed with him almost made Tai's head reel. He was even prepared for dizziness, a hand already stuck to his forehead.

"Really?" he said, when he didn't quite feel like vomiting anymore.

"Yes, Mr. Kamiya." The smile vanished. "Now, I have some grading to do. Please leave."

"Right, right," Tai murmured as he exited the room, still in disbelief of what had just occurred. Had he really just signed his summer away to his most hated teacher? The hand that was glued to his brow suddenly slid down his face, the repercussions of his decision suddenly dawning on him.

"Crap," he groaned. "What did I just _do_?"

He was prevented from slamming his head on a nearby locker when the phone in his pants' pocket buzzed. Hana had messaged him.

_Sora, Izzy and I are going to the Uni library to study, _it said._ Want to come? Ramen eating contest on the way, if you're up for it._

Smirking, Tai quickly texted her a reply, his head suddenly emptied of all worries as soon as he read the words.

_Consider the contest won already, Han. I'm going._


	14. Fourteen

**A/N: Figured I'd update this thing before I get stuck in the plot doldrums again. Also, I don't think I ever put a disclaimer. I DO NOT OWN DIGIMON. You know, just as an fyi. I can only claim Hana and my other OCs. **

xXx

FOURTEEN

xXx

**S**he didn't know what to think. When she had met with her counselor weeks previous to discuss the inevitability that was summer school, she was expecting her first summer in Japan to be unbearably routine and uneventful. This was, after all, the scenario she was resigned to, and the very same that she told all of her friends and acquaintances. With Nakamura and the other ballet dancers on their summer tour, she couldn't even immerse herself in ballet. Her daily lessons became bi-weekly, and the sudden openings in her schedule almost made her panic from all the free time that would soon be on her hands.

But then on her first day of summer school, Tai showed up in her science class with Mr. Tokoya, the happy greeting he hailed her with nearly making her jump out of her seat.

When she had recovered from her shock and closed the mouth that had gone agape, she asked him what on earth he was doing back in Tokoya's class. He took his appointed seat beside her instead of in front of her this time. The layout of the new science room Mr. Tokoya was teaching in required students to sit at lab tables in pairs of two rather in desk rows.

"I… uh…" He scratched his head. "I… didn't do so hot on the final exam."

"I'm sorry to hear that," she said. "You probably weren't expecting to spend your summer here, were you?"

Tai shrugged.

"Well, I figure I have it better off than anyone who's in here. I've taken the class already. That has to count for something. Plus, I won't have to deal with you complaining about my hair blocking out the chalkboard now that I sit next to you, eh?"

He nudged her with his elbow, to which she replied with a cheap laugh.

His being there with her was a welcome surprise, surely, for Hana was certain that she would suffer the injustice that was summer school alone. It never dawned on her how his presence made the class easier to endure. She didn't have to draw up the courage to ask some stranger to be her lab partner because he had already offered, and she didn't have to worry about making friends since he was already established as one. In short, Tai had allowed her to avoid the awkwardness of being the new, strange girl in class again, and for that she was thankful.

Tai himself was somewhat indebted to her. Since he had already sold his soul to Mr. Tokoya for the summer, he figured he'd better make good use of the time, and Hana was always there to keep him on his toes in class. She made sure he paid attention to lectures, giving him a sharp jab with her elbow whenever he started dozing off, and she allowed him to borrow her notes so long as he handled all of the dissections in class. The mere scent of formaldehyde was enough to make her gag, while Tai happened to thoroughly enjoy animating a dead, gutted frog in front of her shrieking face.

Initially, they only rendezvoused after class occasionally. Tai had but one summer class, and he rejoiced in his free afternoons. He often went straight for the soccer field to meet up with Davis and a few other teammates for a quick game under the scorching sun. Hana, meanwhile, had nearly a full day's worth of classes, and by the time she was let out of school, she either had ballet lessons to go to or she wanted to do nothing else but go home and take a nap.

About a week into classes though, she spotted Tai and his bushel of brown hair as she passed the soccer pitch on her way home. Davis, too, was with him, and the boys, fresh and sweaty from a game, signaled her over—Tai with a wave and Davis with a shouted greeting.

"Hey, Hana! Where are you coming from at this hour?" he yelled through cupped hands. "And why are you still in your school uniform?"

"She has summer school, genius," Tai explained, giving his protégé and tame whack upside the head.

"Oh, right." The boy rubbed the smacked spot of his scalp a tad bashfully. "So… uh… where are you headed now?"

"Home," she said simply. "I don't have ballet lessons today, but I thought I'd go home and practice a bit myself."

"Is that what you've been doing after school for the past week?" questioned Tai. He wiped his sweaty face with the hem of his shirt, unintentionally affording Hana a brief glimpse of his naked torso.

"…Yes," she admitted, blushing slightly. She adjusted the headband she was wearing, veering her green gaze to the pitch. "You make it sound like that's a bad thing."

"It's not, but—"

"So you just go home and don't hang out with anybody?" Davis interrupted. "No wonder you're so pale."

Hana smiled uneasily.

"I didn't think that was a crime, Motomiya."

"Being pale? No, I don't think it is," he said, in all seriousness. "But it just means you're antisocial. Why don't you hang out with me for a change instead of going straight home to your hidey-hole of a dungeon?"

Hana released an embarrassed giggle. She knew he only meant well, even if his intentions were phrased insensitively.

"You mean my home?" she countered. "I appreciate your invitation, Davis, and I'll take you up on it, but I have to have at least a few days of the week to practice."

"Could I… come over and watch on those days?" he asked sheepishly.

Tai rolled his eyes, tempted to either stamp his cleated foot on Davis's or give the boy a well-needed reality check in the form of a noogie—or some other humiliating form of teenaged violence.

"You can come over and _practice with me_, certainly," she replied, chuckling. "But, no. You can't watch."

"What if I bring brownies?"

She snorted with laughter.

"Well, then that changes everything."

The boys joined her in her walk home, their persistence eventually getting her to agree to meet up with them the next day after her classes—a meeting that would simply be the first of many others. Before Hana could notice the changes in her summer herself, she soon found her afternoons after summer school occupied with various activities with her newest friends. Her father, despite being at work most of the day, noticed the differences first, partly because he was the one who constantly had to remind Hana to tell him where she was and what she was doing when class was let out.

Her answers to such reasonable, parental inquiries began to become routine. She and Tai were going to get ice cream, she would say, or she was at the Kamiya apartment watching a movie, or she was participating in a game of soccer with Tai and Davis (and by participating, she meant watching from the sidelines). She had made the mistake of actually playing with them one time and only ended up with a bruised shin. Her legs were too much of an investment to be battered by a game of soccer, and from then on she just stood by the edge of the pitch, her eyes following Tai, Davis, and a few of their soccer teammates as they ran up and down the field.

Still, on other days she found herself in the company of Kari and Yolei, the three of them going to the mall to window shop whilst talking about boys, clothes or ballet. On yet others, she'd meet up with Matt, who for some reason found her a reliable source when it came to figuring out what sorts of gifts Sora would like. The teenaged musician had already planned several dates with his distant girlfriend once she returned to Odaiba, and Hana was always happy to offer her advice. She had, after all, been raised in the city of romance, and so she vainly thought herself learned in such matters.

With Matt, too, she felt oddly more comfortable talking about her old life in Paris, perhaps because of their shared heritage, though Matt was commonly left wanting during such conversations. Hana had endless things to say about the city, her haunts, her friends, her eccentric painter of an aunt, while Matt could do little more than say that he liked their food.

More often than not, however, she found her afternoons after summer school spent with Kourshiro Izumi to improve her computer programming skills. That he would waste half his summer on her and her decrepit tech talents was surprising, for, while she was a firm believer that Izzy enjoyed computer science in all its forms and functions, she doubted he shared the same enthusiasm for tutoring a girl with no concept of the technology whatsoever.

But then she found out from her father that Izzy was being paid to instruct her, and Izzy's compliance and on-and-off patience were explained.

"I just can't see you struggling with your computer programming, Hana," Mr. Kurosawa would say to her. "As your father and your resident computer whiz, I can't help but say that it upsets me. You know what your mom and I have said about your schoolwork."

It was made clear quite early in her life that ballet and school would need to be separated. Despite her father's insistence that she choose one or the other growing up, her mother had wanted Hana to receive a proper education. As the product of attending a ballet school, the late Mrs. Kurosawa did not want the same experience for her daughter. Having ballet on the brain for nearly all hours of the day without any academic invigoration made her feel empty. "All body and no soul," she would say. "It's why I married your father, whose life is learning, and why I don't read those silly teen romances you so enjoy, Hana."

It was thus Hana's goal that summer to master the basics of computer programming—to prove that separate educations in academia and ballet were, in fact, possible. It'd be nice, too, to be able to talk to her father about his work, because otherwise they would chat about other things, like when she was going to change her pointe shoes for a new pair, or when the laundry would be done.

At present, Hana sat bent over a computer keyboard, her green eyes focused intently on the screen. Izzy was beside her, engrossed in one of the academic journals her father scattered about the house at his disposal, one eyebrow arched in intrigue. In the distance, Hana could hear her father rummaging through drawers in his bedroom. He was preparing for a flight to Hong Kong to visit some old friends of his now that he was back in the same hemisphere. Her mother had always done the packing whenever they traveled, and her father was notorious for having several incomplete pairs of socks, which explained why Hana heard, amongst her father's scurrying about, various grumbles and sighs of exasperation.

"How's this look, Izumi?" she said, finishing clacking away at the keyboard and poking her tutor sharply in the shoulder.

Izzy flinched and drew his nose out of the journal.

"Well, the computer screen isn't blue and nothing's beeping," he said. "I'm guessing that's a good sign."

Hana pushed her seat back and left to check on her father while Izzy reviewed her work. Although she couldn't see her father from her place in the doorway, she had a great view of his suitcase and the items packed into it. From first glance she could make out a few computer magazines, some shirts and a towel. She rapped her knuckles gently on the door jamb.

"How's everything going?"

Mr. Kurosawa appeared from the closet, his brow wrinkled.

"I swear there is a black hole in the laundry room that just sucks down all of my socks. I've found two complete pairs! Or maybe they were all left in Paris…"

"You could always wear sandals, Dad," Hana suggested.

Her father blinked at her as if what she had said was the greatest epiphany to have dawned on him and quickly he went to their shoe closet to search for said footwear. When he was gone, Hana found a scrap of paper on top of a drawer and hastily wrote a note on it before hiding it in her father's suitcase. _Have a great time, Dad! Take lots of pictures… and buy me some shoes_., it said.

She would have stayed and helped look for more sock pairs for her father but was interrupted by Izzy calling her name.

"Any problems?" she said as she exited the bedroom. She bent down by his shoulder.

"A few," he said. "Some of them preventable, and others outright careless."

She could always count on Izzy to be horrifically blunt.

"As always," she sighed. "You staying for dinner?" she asked, on a different tangent.

"Yeah, sure," he replied. "Let me just inform my mom that I'll be home later."

He left shortly afterwards, going off to the side of the living room to phone home. Izzy had been her family's most frequent guest diner ever since the tutoring sessions began, and while he returned the courtesy more than once (Hana was always happy to eat at the Izumi household. The food was terrifically divine), he had never—not once—denied her invitation.

She figured it was because he and her father had such wonderful conversations about the advancement of computer technology while she sat on her end of the table, losing her appetite over their nerdy excitement.

She had just gathered some plates and set them on the dining table when the apartment intercom buzzed.

Puzzled, she went over to the device and returned the call.

"Kurosawa residence," she sang. "Who is it?"

"Is Izzy up there?"

It was Tai. He had come by so often that he didn't really bother with greetings anymore.

"… yes," she said slowly. "I'll open the doors for you."

Moments later Tai was at her doorstep, garbed in grass-stained shorts and a tee. He removed his mud-caked soccer cleats by the door and went in, Hana getting a good whiff of his sweaty hair as he passed by her to greet Izzy. She didn't have to guess twice about what he had been doing for the past few hours.

"So, what brings you by, Kamiya?" Hana inquired whilst resuming her chores.

"Just wondering what you're up to. Also, our computer broke down again, Izzy. Would you—"

"I'll take a look at it after dinner with the Kurosawas," he said. "What did you do to it this time?"

"I had nothing to do with it," Tai clarified. "Our cat chewed through some wires."

Hana bade both boys to take a seat at the table while Mr. Kurosawa exited his bedroom, hauling out with him a packed suitcase. Tai gave the older man a jolly wave.

"Hey, Mr. K! You all set for your trip to Hong Kong?"

"As ready as I'll ever be." He pointed a finger at Tai before moving it to Izzy. "You two better watch over Hana while I'm gone. I don't look threatening enough to scare you two, but if something happens, I'll… I don't know… put a virus in your computers… which Koushiro will probably solve in seconds." He waved off his paternal request. "Bah. Just… check up on her every now and then."

"Well, Izzy basically lives here, Mr. K," Tai joked, earning a glare from his friend. "He'll make sure Hana doesn't throw any wild parties."

"But I have every intention of throwing a wild party, Tai," said Hana sarcastically. "You're invited."  
>"Sweet!" he cheered. Hana promptly gave him a swat on the head.<p>

"I was _kidding_." She looked at her father. "I promise. No parties. Maybe just a movie night."

"Or a day at the beach," added Tai, giving his former project partner a wink. The unexpectedness of his comment made Hana blush at the suggestion, and she was caught babbling how she knew nothing about it.

"I was going to mention it before I left, but now seemed like a good time," said Tai, taking unusual pleasure in seeing Hana redden in the face. "Davis has been yearning to go to the beach, and since my sister rejected his offer, I figured we'd all just go as a group."

"That's all fine with me," said Mr. Kurosawa, taking disinterest in the topic. "Just don't do anything stupid."

Tai, by default of his presence alone, was invited to dine with the Kurosawas and Izzy. The latter left soon after the meal was over, leaving for Hana a few assignments to complete by his next tutoring session. She stared at the work she had to do with a wrinkled forehead and sighed over it while washing dishes. Her father and Tai were talking in the living room, blips of their conversation every now and then reaching Hana's ears. From what she gathered, they were talking about the performance of the high school's soccer team, which, ever since Coach Fukazawa had introduced the team to ballet, had noticeably improved.

The mere mention of the fact was enough to make Hana smile to herself, and after wiping her hands on a kitchen towel and plopping herself on the living room couch, she happily announced how pleased she was with the results. Tai was quick to remind her that even though ballet had certainly _helped_ the team, it didn't necessarily mean that they all took to it with heart. He himself still dreaded the practices that took them to the studio instead of the pitch.

Wanting to avoid a debate about the benefits and appeal of ballet, Mr. Kurosawa shortly thereafter decided to retire for the night. He did, however, have a proper excuse. His flight was early in the morning. With his departure, however, Tai found his cue to leave, getting up from the armchair he was sitting in with a stretch and yawn.

"You didn't tell me about this beach party of yours, Tai," Hana said, cutting him off mid-yawn.

"Davis and I just discussed it today. The only other person who knows about it aside from you is Izzy. If things go right, it'll be this weekend. You're coming, of course. Davis insisted that you do."

Hana shook her head while laughing.

"Poor, poor Motomiya," she cooed. "I hope one day he meets a girl who appreciates his forwardness. He reminds me of a lot of French boys—good intentions, bad execution."

"Boundaries sometimes don't register for Davis. He's guilty of word vomit."

"Well, you can tell him that I'll be going," she said. "But also remind him that I have a boyfriend."

Tai chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck as he headed for the front door.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll remind him." He laced up his cleats and opened the door, turning back once to see Hana give him a limp wave. "Thanks for feeding me, Han. I'll see you tomorrow."

xXx

**A/N: Beach party? Anyone? Anyone? **


	15. Fifteen

**A/N: Ooh, I am getting good with these updates, aren't I? And I _promise _romance will come… eventually. And here I thought I was doing so well with all of Tai's and Hana's subtle, hush-hush flirting. Ah, well. Maybe it's a bit more obvious in this chapter. ;) **

xXx

FIFTEEN

xXx

"**Y**ou're such a wimp, T.Q.," Davis jeered as T.K. put sunscreen on his face. "You're _supposed_ to get burnt at the beach!"

"Easy for you to say, Davis," T.K. replied, proudly wearing the white smear on his nose. "You never burn. I was born with my mom's pasty French complexion."

Davis's tentative beach outing had indeed become a reality by the weekend, most of the people he considered friends in attendance, minus Sora, who was still in Kyoto, and Hana, who hadn't arrived yet—the fact of which was making Davis more insufferable than he already was.

"What if she forgot?" he whined to Tai, who, along with Matt, was setting up a volleyball net on the shore. "You invited her, right?"

"Davis, she'll be here," Tai assured him. "She's a girl. She, uh…" He scratched his head. "… she takes hours to get ready."

"If you think about it, the longer she takes, the better she'll look when she gets here, right, Davis?" The comment came from a snickering Yolei, who had come up to the boys asking when they would be eating. Some of the food she brought from her family's store would spoil in the heat.

"Then why'd you bring it?" Davis asked irritably.

Yolei shot him a glare.

"Oh, I don't know… To feed your _big mouth_, maybe, you ungrateful—"

"Chill out, guys." Matt stepped in between the two. "We'll eat after we finish setting up the court and play a game. Go make sandcastles or something in the meantime."

"I've got a better idea!" Yolei cried out as she and Davis went off together. "How about I bury Davis up to his neck in the sand!"

"Take pictures if you do!" Tai yelled, earning a thumb's up her.

Izzy, of course, had to remind them of the logistics behind such a venture.

"Do you realize how deep a hole you'll have to dig in order to bury him?" he said.

"I'm thinking not too deep." T.K. smirked. "He's short."

"Hey!"

"He can always be buried laterally," Cody suggested. "That would require less time and effort on our part."

"Don't I get a say in this?" whined he who was about to eat sand. Davis looked at Ken, a tad pleadingly. "Come on, Ken. Tell them this is a stupid idea."

"Well… Yolei seems pretty determined to have you buried, Davis," Ken replied, ever composed. "I wouldn't want to get in her way."

"It's agreed, then." Yolei grabbed Davis by the arm. "Let's get you buried!"

Hana arrived in time to see Davis being pulled against his will to a small ditch in the sand. Since they were all focused on witnessing Davis's premature burial, Hana's presence went unnoted until she sidled up to Tai and said:

"So what'd he do to earn that?"

Her inquiry startled him and he jerked around, arms waving before realizing that it was her. His surprise gradually ebbed into concern when he noticed what she was wearing.

"Did you… _walk_ here in that?" he asked, forgetting her own question.

Hana looked down at her swimsuit. It was the standard halter bikini, blue with small white polka dots. She was at the beach, wasn't she? Why would she be in anything else other than a bathing suit?

"Um… yes?" she replied, raising a groomed eyebrow at him.

"But your apartment is a few blocks from here," he said, feeling his face heat up. He averted his eyes away from her, reminding himself mentally not to stare. It was good thing he was standing in the sun. He'd have an excuse to explain the blush if Hana noticed it.

"That's not a long distance," she said, quite calmly. She _did_ catch sight of the red blooming on his face and giggled behind a hand. "Oh, I see… You're wondering if I was uncomfortable walking here in nothing but my bikini and my beach bag."

"No," he quickly returned, crossing his arms. "Not many people do that. Walk around the city in bikinis, that is."

Hana gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder while striding past him, her flip-flops squeaking.

"Whatever you say, Taichi," she sang.

As soon as her back was turned, Tai slapped himself in the forehead, wondering why he had to bring the issue up. Why couldn't he just be happy and accept that she had walked all the way from her apartment _in her bikini_? When he had finished scolding himself, all he could remark about Hana's appearance was that she was _unnaturally_ pale. Still, he had made the observation while staring at her legs, something he didn't catch himself doing until Davis's squeals at having sand dumped on him pierced his ears. He figured it was best if he just busied himself with marking out the volleyball court, during which he remembered that he hadn't even complimented Hana on her appearance. What was the matter with him?

"So how's this going to work?"

Matt had plopped himself down beside Tai, who was sitting in a corner of the make-shift volleyball court. He handed his friend an unopened can of soda, noticing that Tai looked particularly frustrated.

He changed his question.

"What's bugging you?"

"Nothing." Tai opened the soda and drank to avoid elaborating. That he also refused to look Matt in the eye moved his blond comrade to raise a curious eyebrow. Matt squinted briefly at Tai's profile before glancing over his shoulder at the bikini-clad Hana, who had joined the others in burying Davis.

"How many people are there?" Tai's question cut through the air, jolting Matt out of his efforts to connect Tai's present irritation with the arrival of their resident French girl.

Matt listed those in attendance.

"That's ten," Tai said. "We'll need a referee and a scorekeeper, leaving us teams of four." He quaffed down the rest of his soda before standing and picking up the volleyball lying in the sand. "All right, gather up the troops, Yamato. Let's get the game going."

After much undesired deliberation, the game was finally set up: Cody would referee, Izzy would keep score, and everyone remaining was divided into two teams: Tai, Davis, Ken and Kari on one, and Matt, Hana, T.K. and Yolei on the other. They flipped a coin to see who would serve first, and as soon as it was decided, the game commenced.

"Zero serving zero!" shouted Yolei as she threw the volleyball up in the air.

The ensuing game was more or less one-sided, excepting the occasional lucky streak that Matt's team had. Of course, more than once Hana had called out on Tai, Davis and Ken for hitting the volleyball with their feet as though they were playing a soccer game. Cody had to agree that such moves weren't appropriate for their volleyball match and Hana's nit-picking earned her team some points—especially because she wasn't helping them earn anymore with her pathetic skills. Whenever she had the misfortune of being by the net, she would always hit the ball _into_ it rather than _over_ it. "Give me a break!" she would yell in response to her teammates' groans. "I'm short!"

Her excuse didn't hold, however, for Kari, who was shorter than her, was doing just fine on the other side of the net.

"Try punching the ball," Ken suggested during a halftime break. He was demonstrating for Hana on his side of the net, the girl observing the maneuver with focus.

Davis noticed the exchange of information and harshly interrupted them.

"Hey!" he cried, pulling Ken aside. "No aiding the enemy!"

As Ken was hauled away, sending an apologetic look in Hana's direction, she overheard him murmur, "Well, I just felt bad for her since she hasn't hit it once over the net aside from her serves…"

"So, what?" Davis retorted. "It's working for our benefit."

She caught the last bit Davis had so inconsiderately mentioned with a cross look on her face. After glaring briefly at the boys' turned backs, she unfolded her arms and walked over to Matt, who had just about given up on the game.

"I'll serve first this half," she said, cracking her knuckles.

When their break was over and everyone resumed their positions on the court, Hana tossed the volleyball in her hands, anxiously awaiting the okay to serve. If Ken's advice was to punch it, she would. _Hard_.

"Ten serving eighteen!" she announced, throwing the ball up and smacking it with her fist.

The ball whizzed past Davis's ear, hitting the sand with such momentum that it left an indent. It all happened so fast that it took a moment for him to realize that despite being an ace, Hana's serve had nearly hit him square in the nose.

"Watch it!" he screamed, a few seconds late.

Hana grinned and received the volleyball from Yolei who had picked it up.

"Eleven serving eighteen!"

xXx

They didn't win. Hana's smack-serving had only gotten them so far, and she stopped serving with punches when she broke a nail and wailed a good deal before the game recommenced. Tai could have sworn that she was cursing like a sailor due to the injury, but she was screaming in French, so he was never quite sure. Still, after the match, he couldn't help but humiliate her by imitating her agony.

"I'd like to see _you_ break a nail," Hana muttered in reply to Tai's most recent falsetto whines.

"I have," he said matter-of-factly. "And it's no big deal. Now, can we eat? I'm starving."

He sat himself beside her on a beach towel, squinting in the sun. Hana had strategically placed herself in an unshaded part of their spot on the beach in the hopes of getting some color on her skin. Her eyes were the only part of her protected from the sun, a pair of sunglasses blocking out the rays. She picked at her now bandaged finger as the food was laid out. There was a variety of Japanese snacks, some sandwiches, a few apples and the bowl of cut-up watermelon that she herself had brought.

While eager hands reached out to grab helpings of food, Hana took the time to survey their surroundings, taking note of the other beach goers spaced somewhat evenly from their own gathering of umbrellas and towels. She was surprised to see many people dressed in casual clothing rather than swim suits, some of them only going so far as to dip a toe in the forbidden water.

"This isn't your ordinary beach, is it?" she remarked, to no one in particular.

"If by not ordinary you mean you can't swim in the water, then, yeah, it's not your typical beach," answered Matt.

"You wouldn't want to, anyway," Izzy added. "It's highly polluted."

Hana _hmm_-ed faintly, her lips pressed tightly together as she continued to examine the narrow strip of shore, instinctively comparing the beach to the ones she remembered from France.

"It just seems weird to go to a beach and not be able to swim in the water," she said after a long pause.

"No one's stopping you, Hana," Tai challenged. "Go ahead. We'll get the hazmat team ready for you when you resurface."

She flicked his bare, sand-crusted arm.

"What are the beaches like in France?" asked Kari. "Are they that much different?"

Ken uttered a mix between a cough and a nervous chuckle at the question.

"The French have a… _unique_ beach culture," he said, looking to Hana for a confirmation.

"To say the least," she said, giggling at the two red spots appearing on Ken's face. "We're a bit more relaxed. There are many beaches in France and Europe where women even sunbathe half-naked, and let's not forget the nudist beaches."

"We have naked people in Japan, too," Davis declared, as if public nudity were something desired in a country. "This beach just doesn't happen to be one that has them."

"Pity." Hana feigned a sigh afterwards.

"I mean… unless… well… you've… so you've… _been_ to these beaches?" The broken question came out more queasily than Davis would have liked.

Hana smiled wickedly.

"Well, yeah."

"So… you've—"

"No."

"But you're French! You just said—"

Hana shook her head, her teeth biting into her bottom lip to keep from laughing.

"Not all French people are nudists, Davis. I haven't gone _au naturel _myself, but I grew up going to beaches that allowed it."

Tai scoffed, skeptical of her tolerance for naturists.

"So you'd be perfectly all right if a naked guy walked up to you and asked if you wanted to get an ice cream," he said.

"Yes." Hana turned to Tai and grinned broadly. The dubious eyebrow he had raised remained arched in disbelief. "It's happened before, actually, except the guy didn't want to get an ice cream from me. Last summer when Ryo came to France, he and I were just sunbathing when he received a tap on his shoulder. The nudist wanted one of us to take a picture of him and his friends." When she noticed that Tai was still unconvinced, she added, "He and his friends were also in their late fifties or early sixties, and while not all of them were nude, the most some of them wore was a thong."

"_Ew!_"

Yolei's face pinched at the mental image that had just entered her head, her cheeks turning a subtle shade of green afterwards.

T.K., too, had reluctantly set the apple he had been eating down with newfound disgust.

"…I think I just lost my appetite," he murmured.

Kari was embarrassed enough to cover Cody's innocent ears.

"I'm _kidding_," Hana said, laughing at the many a "_Blech!" "Gross!" _and_ "Nasty!"_ she had the fortune to hear. "They were some young men from Spain. Even so, Ryo made me take the picture. He didn't really want to look, understandably. Though, I admit, I _have_ seen a sixty-year old man walking around in—"

"Please, don't," said Tai, suddenly finding it very difficult to keep his lunch down. Conversation mixed with Ryo Hiraki and naked old men was an instant recipe for nausea. "I believe you."

Hana smirked, leaning slightly into him so that their shoulders brushed.

"I thought you would," she said.

xXx

**A/N: Kind of short, BUT… the next chapter happens to be one of my favorite. You all probably won't agree, but there it is. Thank you for reading! **


	16. Sixteen

**A/N: Thank you all again for your reviews! They continue to be much appreciated! And, as promised, here is my favorite chapter thus far. Enjoy! **

**(P.S. – In case none of you were aware, I put up a little spin-off, one-shot of Tai and Hana, titled _Fun House_. Feel free to give it a gander, especially if you are anxious for some nanobytes of romance between the two!) **

xXx

SIXTEEN

xXx

**T**he slapping of her neon-yellow flip-flops on the concrete only reminded him that they weren't talking. He could hear the murmurs of the conversations his friends were having as they walked ahead of them, mingled sometimes with the zoom of a passing car, but Tai felt like his tongue was in a knot. The fact that his hand had brushed against Hana's accidentally as they headed for her apartment complex didn't help. That it was also night time didn't, either. To prevent any further embarrassing faux pas, he stuffed his hands into his swimming trunks' pockets, though Hana continued to walk as if nothing had happened, the arm closest to him at complete ease.

When they were halfway to her neighborhood, she unexpectedly set a hand on the crook of his arm. He flinched at her touch but didn't break off her hold on him.

"Sorry," she mumbled, smiling. "Just making sure you're not completely daydreaming. If you don't like it, I can keep my hands to myself. I forget sometimes how people here aren't very touchy-feely."

"Uh… no, it's all right," Tai allowed, still a bit startled. To Hana, he didn't sound convinced and her flingers began slipping. "It's just… people might get the wrong idea."

"Oh," Hana said, letting go of Tai entirely. "I wish my dad had told me the rules on touching and personal space in Japan. I just assumed… well, I used to hook arms with my friends—male and female—all the time in France. Granted, most of the guys who were comfortable doing so were gay. Um… not that, you know, you're gay or anything, Tai, I…" Hana stopped herself, realizing how terribly she had botched her words. She looked up at Tai warily, afraid to look him in the eye.

"I'll just… shut up," she said. She never summoned the courage to see his reaction, and she concentrated on the endless cement blocks in the sidewalk, illuminated every few meters by the glow of a streetlight.

She hadn't expected her initial attempt to ease into a confession to be so taboo. If she had something very personal and very important to say to someone, she often let him know by some sort of gentle gesture. Maybe Tai didn't think of her as that close a friend to let her get _that_ close, which she found entirely fair. They'd known each other for a few months now, and half of that time was spent working on a project. Perhaps they weren't as good friends as she thought they were. Or, more likely, she was overanalyzing everything. Maybe Tai was startled by it. Maybe that was all.

They walked the rest of the way to her apartment in silence. The others, after hearing that Mrs. Hida had more baked goods that needed devouring, went into the other apartment building. Tai had been walking with Hana for the sole purpose of getting science notes from her and said that he would meet them in a few minutes.

Hana instantly felt more at ease when she unlocked the door to her apartment and invited Tai inside. Instead of getting the notes for him at once, she went immediately into the kitchen and got a glass of water, checking the house phone for any missed calls while she asked Tai if he wanted anything to drink.

"I promise we have more than just water this time," she joked.

"I'm good," he said. He hadn't taken off his shoes since he thought that he would be in and out of her apartment, but seeing as Hana was taking her jolly time, he took off his flip-flops and cleared his throat.

"So… those science notes."

"Oh, right," said Hana. "I'll get them out of my room as soon as I finish checking my missed calls. Ryo said he might call me sometime today since, well, I'm home alone."

Tai apparently hadn't heard her.

"I'll just grab them and go, Han. Are they in your backpack?" He was already making way for her bedroom door, which was slightly ajar.

"Tai, don't—"

He pushed the door open and raised his eyebrows at what he saw. Her room was a _mess_. Outfits, complete with undergarments and shoes, were laid out on almost every free square foot of space in her room—on her bed, her desk, the floor.

"Gee, Ha—"

"Get out." She stepped in front of him, slamming shut her bedroom door and giving him a soft slap on the shoulder afterwards. Though, she had done it mostly to hide her embarrassment. Her underwear was lying around for God's sake.

He looked down at her, the beginnings of a grin curling his lips.

"So you were… uh… having trouble deciding what to wear today?"

Hana returned his stare, fearlessly prepared to defend her body-conscious preparations.

"I just like mapping out what options are available to me," she said primly. "I'm not the person who can just slap something on and go outdoors."

"But you were just picking out a swim suit…"

Tai could not remotely fathom the great fuss she was making over clothes.

"Yeah, well, when you're planning on making a career out of people watching you on a stage, you kind of have to be concerned about what you look like."

"O… kay." He figured that whatever Hana had just blabbered was just another way of expressing her feminine insecurities. "So… science notes."

"Stay here," she commanded, opening the door and slipping through a sliver of open space before vanishing behind it.

She emerged a few minutes later, walking over to Tai who had wandered over to the bookshelf by her _barre_, gazing engrossed at the ballet photos and books on display. A quick flick of her wrist and the flapping of papers disrupted his open-mouthed wonder, and he turned to take the notes. He was about to place them in the backpack he had carried with him to the beach when he noticed the scribbles and doodles in the margins of the papers.

"Is this…?" He squinted at it more closely. "Is this a picture of me being compared to a piece of cauliflower?"

"Hmm? What?" Hana had resumed checking her missed calls.

"This."

He pointed to the doodle in question.

"Oh…" She waved him off. "Just ignore my drawings. I was comparing your hair to a piece of cauliflower that was in my salad. And I didn't just compare you. Don't flatter yourself. Matt's somewhere in there, too."

"Yeah, I noticed." Tai looked somewhat bemused at the doodle of Matt that was comparing him to a celery stalk, and then at another one that compared Izzy to a radish and Davis to an unshelled lychee fruit.

By then, he couldn't help but chuckle a bit at the girl's silly scribbles. He was still snickering when he put the notes in his backpack.

"Thanks, Hana," he said. "I'll get these back to you before our next quiz."

"You'd better," she replied, giving him a warning look. She watched him slip his flip-flops on and set his hand on the doorknob, her heartbeat escalating slightly as she hesitated for a brief second.

"Tai," she called out, coming towards him.

He turned, the door already open.

"Yeah?"

"Could I…" She smiled a bit when she realized how stupidly nervous she was being. "Could I hug you?" she asked at last.

Tai forgot how to blink.

"Uh…"

"I know it's weird that I'm asking, but since that weird elbow thing earlier I didn't want to cross any boundaries again. Plus… I've been hugging your friends for a while now, and it just occurred to me that I've never expressed my gratitude to you… for…uh…." She blushed then, her eyes glancing momentarily at the floor as she ground her slippered toes into the floor. "… well, for helping me adjust to life here in Japan better than anyone else I've met."

"Umm…" He contemplated the request. She stood a little more than a foot away from him, hugging her arm a bit. Her face would be temporarily pink after a day at the beach, which only gave a genuine happy look about her—blushing, green eyes smiling at him. He gave in.

"Yeah, sure, Hana." He loosed his grip on the doorknob and dropped his backpack to the ground, spreading his arms out slightly. "I'm happy to have helped," he said, oddly unprepared to receive her petite form. She was twiggier than he anticipated… and cold. Her hair smelled like the sun and salt.

She released him too quickly for him to get caught up in the scent of her dark hair. He could have endured her embrace for a few more seconds, but he let her know he appreciated the gesture with a friendly pat on the shoulder. He thought he felt goosebumps on her.

"You can count on me for anything, Han," he said, picking his backpack up.

"Likewise," she said, smiling for him.

She watched him linger by the door a moment, looking as if he was going to take half a step forward, his head tilting south at a familiar angle. But before her body could seize up, he recoiled and backed out of the door, giving her a wave before he headed to the elevator, his heart banging inside his chest.


	17. Seventeen

**A/N: I'm a bit… 'meh' about this chapter to be honest. Only because I feel like I did a crap job with Tai's character (as in, he is a bit OOC, at least in my opinion). We get a confession (or confirmation? I dunno) of sorts concerning, ehm... _feelings_. **

**Next chapter might be a shocker for you all, especially if you haven't been reading in between the lines. **

**Happy reading! And thank you to anyone and everyone who has privileged this story with their attention!**

xXx

SEVENTEEN

xXx

**I**t didn't feel any different. The first day of the trimester had arrived and Hana felt like she had never left the school's halls. Already she had viewed several impromptu reunions between students (mostly female), who acted as though the month-long summer vacation was a cracking abyss between friends. She wouldn't have minded them much—the emotion was touching after all—but she wished that they didn't have to interrupt her commute through the crowded hallways, or be announced to the entire world with shrill squeals of hyperbolic proportions.

"_I haven't seen you in __forever__!_"

For Hana, 'forever' was longer than a month. Such an exclamation would be put to better use by her own tongue were she to suddenly be reunited with her family and friends from Paris. The divide between them and herself was more an abyss than any extended vacation was. She was physically, geographically displaced from the city she would always call home. The girls that ran screaming into the arms of their friends were only removed by time, even though they probably lived in the same neighborhood and saw each other a few times over the summer itself.

Her present attentions were distracted by an idle question from Kaito Yamashita, a basketball player, who had asked her how her summer had gone. Since she had arrived at the school, various players from the team had pestered her, and she had received warnings from all of her friends to avoid association with them at all costs. The most vehement one came from Tai, who told her to stay away from the school's "resident clan of douchebags," especially their captain, Kaito. Whether he said it because it was true or because the basketball team happened to be the soccer team's greatest rivals, Hana didn't know. She had been annoyed by them enough times to know the types of charades they would pull and would probably never forgive them for asking her to join the cheerleading squad.

"I was actually in school all summer," she said plainly, avoiding eye contact. "Playing catch-up. It was boring."

"Really?" Kaito leaned into her somewhat. "'Cause I think you were playing a different game, one involving Kamiya, his little lackey Davis, and those pretty little legs of yours on the soccer pitch."

Hana's cheeks flushed.

"Well…"

Her mind tried to conjure a witty retort but the only phrases coming to mind were in French, leaving nothing but hot air coming out of her mouth as she glowered up at Kaito, who only smirked as he ran a hand smoothly through his jet black hair.

"Hana!"

She spun around at the mention of her name to see Sora giving her a wave, followed closely by Matt, Izzy and Tai. She breathed a little easier and returned Sora's greeting as her friends approached.

She quickly hooked arms with the Takenouchi girl as they passed, much like a straggler hitching a ride on the caboose of a train, though she was sure to leave Captain Kaito a fitting farewell—in the form of an akanbe.

"So, how's your schedule look, Hana?"

Hana turned, her tongue still sticking out of her mouth, to face Sora.

"I, um… I actually haven't looked at it."

The four of them paused by a row of lockers while Hana revealed her schedule card to them. Matt had glanced at the list of classes only briefly, for he was much more interested in observing the way Tai had reacted to Hana's little encounter with Kaito Yamashita. His big haired friend was still glancing over his shoulder every so often, shooting glares at the rival player who had reunited with more of his abominable kin.

"Hana, your classes are, well… _first-year_ classes," Izzy commented, reading the schedule with a furrow in his brow.

"What?" Hana brought the card up to her face for closer inspection. "That can't be right!"

The escalating pitch of panic invading Hana's voice drew Tai from his belligerent staring contest.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

She didn't hear him.

"No, no, no, no," Hana muttered to herself. "I took the test, my credits transferred, I went to summer school…"

"Calm down, Hana," said Tai. He was about to butt in front of Izzy to reach for her shoulder when Sora beat him to it.

"I'm sure it's a mistake," she said. "See your counselor about it."

"Just my luck, huh?" Hana groaned. "First King-of-the-Douchebags-Kaito pays me a visit and now this." She exhaled loudly through her nose. "I'll see you guys at lunch. I've got a few things to straighten out."

The warning bell sounded, and before any of them could say goodbye, Hana fled their company, her brisk steps taking her down a direct route to the guidance office. The rest of her friends followed suit and dispersed according to their first classes, Matt and Sora sharing a quick kiss before they parted ways. Tai reacted to the open display of affection with just as open a gag. Ever since he had started taking pointers from Hana, Matt had made his and Sora's relationship slightly more public. It didn't help Tai, either, that Matt was headed in the same direction as him, his steps light and carefree and a subtle grin on his lips. Tai adjusted the slings of his backpack, sniffing affectedly.

"I saw that," said Matt, peering suspiciously at the soccer captain.

Tai feigned wonder.

"Saw what?"

"Don't play coy. You know what you did. Everyone saw it and by everyone, I mean Izzy and me."

Tai shrugged.

"So Hana's starting her trimester out in a bad way? I thought I'd—"  
>"Massage her shoulder?"<p>

"No," Tai snapped.

Matt laughed.

"So… what? You have to admit, Tai, you've been getting pretty cozy with our resident French girl. Even Kaito's noticed it, and we all know that he has the observation skills of a rock."

"What do you expect? Circumstance hasn't exactly done anything to keep her out of my life. And Kaito Yamashita's a perv. When he's not looking at himself in the mirror, he's looking up every hot girl's skirt."

Matt chuckled.

"So you admit that Hana's hot."

Half of Tai's face flinched, while the other half froze, perfectly petrified.

"I didn't say that."

Matt gave him a look.

"Give me a break, Tai. _I_ think there's more to it than you're letting on." He paused and gave Tai a friendly nudge in the shoulder.

"You like her," he said, a wicked gleam in his eye.

Heat crept up Tai's neck. He cleared his throat.

"Say what?"

"You…" Matt pointed at Tai. "Like…" He signed a thumb's up. "_Her_." He then took the raised thumb and jerked it over his shoulder, pointing it down a path that led straight to Hana who was walking down the opposite hallway.

Tai gulped, the signals being fired in his brain leading him to all sorts of confessions—none of which were being formed coherently.

"_Well_…?"

"What?" he retorted angrily, though he didn't understand why he had to be defensive. If he had nothing to hide, there was nothing to defend, but he was clearly protecting _something_.

"Do you like Hana?" Matt repeated.

Tai refused to say anything. His teeth clenched and the grip he had on his backpack tightened.

"I don't know," he grumbled, his mouth souring.

"What do you mean you don't know? I think it should be pretty obvious whether or not you like someone."

"I told you. _I don't know_. She has a boyfriend, remember? Mr. Hot-Shot-Hey-Look-I'm-in-University-and-I-Drive-an-Expensive-Sports-Car."

"Tai, it's not a question of whether or not you _should_ like her. It's a question of whether or not you _do_."

It was no use denying it now. Matt had him cornered.

He suppressed the growl in his throat and forced his mouth open to speak. _Damn you, Ishida_, thought Tai.

He shielded Matt's haughty smirk from his view with a hand, the truth solidifying on his tongue.

"God, Matt," he murmured. "I can't get her off my mind."

It wasn't how he wanted to come to terms with the reality of his feelings. That he admitted them to Matt only confirmed that they did indeed exist, that he hadn't, in actuality, been making it all up. Hana Kurosawa had officially drifted from a comfortable spot in his friend zone to the precarious and awkward crush category. She wasn't the first girl to make his heart skip a beat, but she _was_ the first girl who already had a boyfriend to make the leap. That fact only made him hate all the more that she was on his mind more than she should have been.

The events of the summer didn't help to stunt the growth of his affections. Despite whatever awkwardness he experienced the night he borrowed her science notes, she continued to be her silly, frivolous self around him. In between the eating contests, the ice cream excursions, and the game nights, he found nothing in _her _behavior that triggered a change in their friendship. If anything, the normalcy tricked him into thinking that he still saw her as a friend, only to have the illusion dashed in his dreams, which told him, explicitly, that Hana was causing his brain to turn into a fried mess—among other things.

His own conscious behavior was never reflected upon. Many summer nights, Tai found himself texting Hana long into the wee hours of morning, even after spending hours with her during the day. Most of his messages were stupid in retrospect. One conversation was simply a back-and-forth about Davis's general foolishness; another, about the mystery between Izzy and Mimi, and still another about where the best place to eat tacos was.

Sometimes Hana didn't reply. Most times, she did, which led to his mother confiscating his phone for a weekend when she found out that he was still awake at three o'clock in the morning—a punishment which he found 'unfair.' He assured his mother that he messaged Hana just as frequently as he texted his other friends. Kari had been present for Tai's sentencing, and to prove him wrong, she had stolen a look at his phone and scrolled through his long list of conversations with the budding ballerina—a list that dwarfed those of Sora, Izzy, and Matt combined.

It was a shame he never admitted, just as he never admitted that he had started meeting Hana after her ballet lessons just to spend time alone with her. Most other outings they went on were as a group. Davis had joined them, or his sister was with them, or Matt and T.K.. It was during these one-on-one evenings with Hana that he discovered that she had been dating Ryo only since the beginning of the year, that she didn't know how to ride a bike, and that the only reason she watched soccer matches with her father was because the players were 'so fit.'

He learned, also, quite a bit about her late mother. She told him that her name was Fleur, that she loved to read historical novels, and was a rather quiet woman who, when prompted to speak, spoke quickly and with a very heavy French accent. "She never mastered Japanese," Hana had told him one evening when he had come over to watch a movie with her. "When we lived in Japan, she never seemed very comfortable. My father said she had an old soul. She had no taste for technology, despised driving, and scolded me for watching too much T.V." Hana looked Tai straight in the eye. "She probably wouldn't have liked you, to be honest. My mom was, um… well, she was a bit of a hardass."

"Aren't all moms?" he said.

She laughed, grateful that he didn't find her words potentially insulting, and sat herself comfortably beside him on her living room sofa.

"Truer words were never spoken, Kamiya."

He remembered being sorely tempted to hug her at that moment. The hugging thing had gotten less awkward after the first one they shared, but to Tai, that only meant that Hana was getting used to him and to his other friends. She began to treat them the way she would treat her friends from France, greeting them with half an embrace and a _bise_ on the cheek, and hooking arms with them in public.

Her father, however, had reminded her that to show that type of affection in public might be seen as inappropriate, and so Hana reserved her _bises_ only for when she visited her friends at their houses. And if she did hook arms with someone in public, it would be with one of the girls.

Occasionally, though, she would forget herself and more than once she had to explain to people that she was not in a relationship with any boy in attendance. Davis wouldn't let her explain one time, and as embarrassed as she was, she let it pass, only to pour hot sauce into Davis's drink when they went out to dinner.

It was too much for Tai to hope that she liked him back—mostly because it was impossible. Regardless of how much time she spent with him, he wasn't the one who made her giggle with delight at the mere sight of him. He couldn't finish her thoughts, he was completely ignorant about ballet, he didn't even know her favorite food.

When Ryo surprised her by coming back from Australia early, Tai unfortunately learned just how little he (and everyone else) meant to Hana once her boyfriend entered the picture. She canceled all other plans she had made for the last week of summer. Her shopping date with Sora was etched out of her planner. She got a rain check from Yolei on their sleepover. A future promise was made to Davis to make up for not seeing the newest horror flick with him, Ken, and T.K.. Every hour of every day of her last week of vacation was spent with Ryo Hiraki.

Whenever Tai texted her or called her during that time she would either tell him she was busy or not reply at all. While initially he was frustrated that she was being inconsiderate, he received some clarity when his sister explained the situation to him. Hana hadn't seen her boyfriend for weeks.

"Place yourself in her shoes, Tai," Kari had said. "If the person you loved was gone for a while and suddenly came back to see you, wouldn't you want to spend every moment with her?"

He understood full well what she meant when Ryo had gone back to Kyoto the Friday of their last weekend of summer vacation. Hana had messaged him about getting ice cream, which he received while he was sitting on the living room couch, flipping idly through T.V. channels. He was gone before anyone noticed that the television had suddenly turned off.

And now the feelings he had checked all summer had been confessed, and still, Tai did not feel any better about it. If Hana were single, he would have asked her out, but she wasn't. She was completely enamored with her best friend of eleven years—a boy who had flown thousands of miles every year once a year to be with her for just a few weeks and who now, for some reason, rarely saw her when he lived but a few hours away.

But Tai was in no position to be placing judgment on Ryo. Hana's boyfriend was a bright kid, in the top academic tier of one of the country's most prestigious universities, with a rich, world-traveled father and an accomplished mother renowned in the ballet community. His curriculum vitae couldn't compare.

"So what are your options, Taichi?" he mused to himself one night as he lay in his bed. "Do you tell her and face rejection, or do you pull a Matt Ishida and wait?"

He didn't think on it long.

Stupidly, he chose the latter.


	18. Eighteen

**A/N: I present to you… FRIEND-ZONED TAI! Oh, God. I am so cruel to our first generation goggle-boy, aren't I? **

**Also, some background on, um… Tai, actually—and Sora. Oh, shoot. Did I just give something away? —hinthint— **

**Happy reading! **

xXx

EIGHTEEN

xXx

"**S**hredded lettuce is the spawn of the undertaker, I swear."

Tai smiled mildly at Hana's disgruntled comment. She walked beside him, a few fingers poking around in her mouth as she tried to (rather publicly) clean her teeth. They had finally decided on the best place to eat tacos in their district and went to check it out prior to going to one of Matt's shows later that evening. It was their lucky day, for the restaurant was offering an endless taco bar special, and so it went without saying that he and Hana had dared each other to see who could eat the most.

He won, naturally, and Hana acknowledged her defeat by paying for his meal, an act he wasn't too keen on only after it was done. After all, it was only fair that she do so. Still, there were quite a few stares sent in their direction when it was Hana who had pulled her wallet out at the register, while he remained idly by her side.

_But it wasn't like it was a date or anything_, Tai reasoned to himself. He wasn't her boyfriend, and, ergo, he didn't have to play the part. He thought a moment on that conclusion, realizing that were it some other boy, say, Matt, who was with Hana, he probably would have insisted on paying for the meal. Matt was, Tai considered, the chivalrous, sensitive type, whereas he was, well, himself.

"Aha! I think I got the little bugger," Hana cheered, drawing him out of his musings. She nudged him gently with the back of her hand. "Is there anything left in my teeth?" she asked, parting her lips.

"What am I, your mirror?"

She grabbed his shirt sleeve.

"Just look," she ordered. Tai raised an eyebrow at her, his arms crossing. "Please?" she added.

Sighing through his nose, he lowered his head and glanced very quickly at her mouth.

"Nope. Nothing. Now, let's get going."

He resumed leading the way, Hana lingering a moment behind him as she sucked more at her teeth, paranoid that some piece of chewed up taco was hiding in a visible crevice. She caught up with him eventually, asking, as she resumed a place by his side:

"Is Matt upset that the others aren't coming?"

She squinted up at him, the light of the sun squarely hitting his profile and making the fringes of his voluminous hair glow in the light. The afternoon was surprisingly cool, despite it being sunny and technically still summer. Hana hadn't gotten rid of the shorts, but she did wear a jacket, and throughout their entire outing thus far, Tai could have sworn he saw goosebumps on her legs—not that he was looking at them.

"Why should he be? _I'm_ going, after all," he answered jokingly, giving her a smile. "Besides, the only other person who should be going is Sora, and she never misses one of his shows."

"Except when she was in Kyoto."

"Well, yeah… but…"

He couldn't think of anything else to say. The fact that no one else was coming to Matt's show was, he was certain, the direct result of his friends trying to matchmake him with the Kurosawa girl. Ever since he had told Matt about his feelings for Hana, Tai began to notice some suspicious activity brewing amongst his friends and family.

Everyone he knew seemed to be conspiring to get him alone with her.

His sister would leave the room or apartment altogether when Hana was invited over. On trips to the mall, Matt and Sora would deliberately go off together without warning, leaving him and Hana to fend for themselves. Even Izzy seemed to have a hand in it, which Tai just found to be plain bizarre. Whenever Tai had stopped by the Kurosawa apartment during Hana's tutoring sessions, Izzy would hurriedly finish up his lesson, often before Tai even took two steps through the front door. That his mother, too, still insisted he wear a tie with his school uniform (in case he met someone "special"), also hinted at some unsaid agendas.

He didn't like the feeling of having his social and non-existent love life molded by other hands, even if he did desperately need the help.

"So… how are you liking practicing with the corps?" he asked, changing the topic of their conversation.

"Oh, well, it's…"

Hana paused a moment. The ballet troupe had only recently returned from their summer tour, but with it came the news from Nakamura that she found Hana ready to dance with the corps. Thus far she had only joined them for parts of their practices, but to join them completely implied that she would dance with them in productions, too, or at least be a capable back-up.

She had an inkling that Nakamura would approach her with such news. Ryo had, after all, dropped a hint about it when he was in Australia. For her benefit, he had gone backstage after watching the company's rendition of _Coppèlia _with his mother, seeking out the dancers she had mentioned to him: Ren, Emi and Max. He had located the former two first, and the two ballerinas had dished out the latest gossip that one of their soloists had gotten injured, meaning that a corps girl would take her place in their winter production of _The Sleeping Beauty_. A corps dancer moving up in the ranks meant a vacancy in the corps—possibly, for Hana.

"Well…" she repeated, chewing on her lip. "It's… fantastic, really," she said, her face brightening. "A heck of a lot of work, but fantastic. Thanks for asking, Kamiya. I know ballet usually puts you to sleep, seeing as you always get a glazed look in your eye when I start talking _pas de deux_ and _arabesques_, but I'm glad that you asked."

"Just don't ask me to take the conversation any further than that."

"Oh, I know. Aside from other dancers, Ryo's probably the only other person who can talk with me about ballet for hours. Kind of like the way you, Davis and my dad can rant on and on about soccer, while the only two cents I have to offer is how hot some of those players are."

Tai smiled uneasily. He was, after all, a soccer player. Then again, so was Davis and so was Ken, and Hana had little to say about the attractiveness of either, except that Ken had exceptionally nice hair.

They reached the doors to the performance venue for Matt's show, and Tai walked in first, realizing, too late, that he hadn't held the door open for Hana. She didn't say anything, and the grin on her face did not betray any annoyance at his absent manners.

"Hmm… looks like we're early," she observed, noticing that the stage wasn't fully set up. She caught a glimpse of Matt directing some of the stage crew as to where the drum set would go. There were other spectators in attendance already (mostly female), seated and giggling amongst themselves. "Maybe we shouldn't have quaffed down our food."

"You were the one who wanted to see who could eat the most tacos."

"So… what? You want to come back in a few minutes, sit down, or…?"

Tai thought a moment, estimating how long it would be until the show by seeing how far Matt and his band had gone with their stage set-up. He figured he had at least a half hour before things were set in motion, which meant that he would have a half hour of chatting with the girl who was currently making his brain fry.

"Uh… maybe I can take you back stage?" he suggested, scratching his head. "I don't think Matt would mind."

He didn't give her the chance to reply and simply grabbed her wrist and led her out through a door and into a hallway connecting to the back of the stage. Doors lined the walls, and at the very end of it, right by the entrances to the stage, was the dressing room where Matt and his band passed the first few minutes of the show before they walked out onto the platform. Hana immediately noticed that the door was bedecked almost like a shrine, with flowers and teddy bears, balloons, tins, and baskets of sweets and other cute manifestations of fanaticism. A lot of such items were addressed, simply, "To Matt."

The first word she could utter in response to such a display was a blunt, "Wow." It wasn't Tai's intent to bring her to the dressing room. He was going to introduce her to the other band members, but he forgot how distractingly decorated the dressing room was.

"Does Sora mind all of the attention he gets from other girls?" she asked, when her surprise had diminished somewhat.

"I would hope so," said Tai, almost bitterly. "But if she does, she doesn't show it. I mean, she puts a gift here, too, right before each show, but she doesn't sign her name or anything to see if Matt can guess which one is hers."

"How cute," cooed Hana, now peering more closely at the presents. "Does he guess right?"

"Yeah," Tai was almost reluctant to reply. "Almost all the time."

Hana shifted her green eyes away from the offerings at the dressing room door and looked up at Tai, unable to keep herself from thinking that he what he had last said was said almost sadly. He stood a bit apart from her, his hands jammed into his shorts' pockets, his brown eyes also looking at the wide array of gifts for Matt and his band, though with less awe and with more envy. She didn't catch herself smiling as she studied him, recalling how he had humored her by changing into shorts as well when she had met up with him at his apartment. Though, he was sure to tell her first that she was crazy for dressing like it was eighty degrees in fifty degree weather, but apparently he didn't mind being crazy with her.

"Matt's pretty lucky, isn't he?" she said, when she blinked the recent memory away. She had voiced her inquiry with every intention of striking a nerve. Tai didn't understand the point of her question and didn't reply. "I mean, he's a pretty good student, an excellent singer, leader of a successful teenaged band. He has a beautiful and caring girlfriend, who leaves him presents at every sho—"

"You've made your case, Hana," Tai interrupted, almost as a growl.

"You didn't let me finish," she chided, expecting his gruffness. "I was about to say that he also has..." She poked him in the chest, lifting herself up on her tip-toes a bit in order to meet his eye level better. "…_you_. You're his best and most trusted friend."

Tai's own arms remained crossed, mostly to keep himself from reaching out and pulling her closer. She was, already, _very_ close.

"Like he needs me to cramp his style," he sputtered.

Hana frowned.

"Don't be so bitter, Tai." She backed away, her movement away from him instantly making his arms unfold. "Honestly, I thought that if you're here, you're here because Matt's your friend and you want to support him."

"Don't get me wrong, Hana. I support him, all right. It's just… it's true. Matt's a super cool guy who gets success _and_ the girl, and I'm, well…"

"Jealous?" Hana finished.

"No."

She raised a doubtful eyebrow at him, her lips spreading thin in a wide grin.

"Is there something… _unresolved_ between you two, Tai?" she asked, coming near him again and laying a hand on his shoulder.

"Last time I looked, your boyfriend was the shrink, not you," he retorted, eluding the question. He shrugged off her hand and went to look for the closest bathroom—not because he needed to use it, but because he knew she wouldn't follow him into the forbidden territory.

Hana, for the meantime, let him go, contenting herself with more wide-eyed examinations of the gifts proffered to Matt and his band. She was absorbed in looking at one particular tin of cookies, contemplating Tai's subdued jealousy when she heard someone clear his throat awfully close behind her.

"Oh, great. Another fan."

Hana turned around cautiously, a nervous smile already affixed to her face. Behind her stood three young men, all of whom greeted her with either a raised eyebrow or a severe expression of boredom.

Hesitantly, she spoke.

"…Hi. I'm Hana." She extended her hand, but none of the three took it. They simply continued to peer at her as if she were some alien that had dropped from the sky. Feeling stupid, Hana reluctantly placed her outstretched hand into her shorts' pocket.

"We're the Teenage Wolves, sans Yamato," one of them said, a long minute after Hana had already introduced herself. "I'm Akira, and these are Yutaka and Takashi."

Hana acknowledged each of them with a short nod, seeing as they weren't, apparently, into the handshaking.

"So…" Akira resumed, eyes still narrowed in on her. "Where's your gift?"

"My _what_?" Hana echoed.

"Girls who come back here only do for two reasons," explained Yutaka. "For autographs, or to drop off their gifts."

"So which one is it?" asked Takashi. "Because we have a show to do."

"I… I'm actually a friend of Matt's. Not some rabid fangirl. I even came here with Ta—"

Hana stopped when she saw, out of the corner of her eye, a certain ginger-haired friend of hers walking down the hallway, a small blue box in her hands.

"Sora," Hana finished, changing the name at the last minute. "I came here with Sora."

"Oh, well, why didn't you say so earlier?" said Akira, cracking a smile. As Sora approached, she looked from the Teenage Wolves to Hana, and then back at the Teenage Wolves.

Without anything being said, Sora detected right away that there was a blatant air of awkwardness hanging above them all. She decided to get rid of it.

"Hi, guys," she said cheerfully. "You all know Hana Kurosawa from school, right?"

"The ballerina girl?" Takashi wondered aloud. He turned to look at Hana again. "You're the ballerina girl?"

"Er… yes." She reddened in the face, aware now what her epithet was to the rest of the school: 'ballerina girl.' Though, at least it wasn't 'circus freak' or 'Miss Elasticity.' "It's so nice to finally meet you all," she said. "Tai was actually planning on introducing me to you three, but seeing as he's spending eons in the ba—"

She was interrupted when Matt barged out of the left stage entrance, beckoning his fellow band members with a wave and greeting Sora afterwards with a quick squeeze of her hand. There were apparent disagreements about where Yutaka's drum set would be placed on the platform.

The boys left quickly, and Hana sighed heavily after their departure.

"Man, that was beyond awkward," she murmured, meeting eyes with Sora and chuckling.

"It really shouldn't have been. Tai should have done the intros himself. Where is he, anyway?" Sora asked. She set the blue box she had been carrying among the other fan offerings in front of the dressing room.

"Bathroom," Hana answered, bending down to look at the box. "So what are you leaving for Yamato?"

Sora blushed lightly.

"Oh, nothing, really. Just some cookies. They're shaped like the planets of the solar system. Believe it or not, Hana, the project you and Tai did has kind of stuck in Matt's head. He hasn't been able to get black holes and space out of his skull. He's even debuting a song tonight loaded with cosmic metaphors."

"Huh." Hana's eyebrows arched. "I didn't think anyone would remember anything about our project. We didn't exactly come off as super interesting."

Sora giggled.

"I think you underestimate yourself and Tai, Hana."

The girls vacated the backstage and headed back into the main seating area, hoping to secure good seats before the show started. They spotted Tai already seated somewhere, and before Sora could make way towards him, Hana stopped her with a hand on the shoulder.

"So, Sora," she began casually, her easy tone offsetting Sora's initial shock at being held back. "I have a question to ask you, if you don't mind."

"Sure, Hana. What's on your mind?"

Hana released her grip on Sora and stood back a bit, her arms crossing and a finger methodically tapping her chin.

"Is there a… _history_ between you and Tai?"

She knew her answer as soon as she saw Sora's face blanch at the question, the slight smile that had been on her lips quivering as it was kept in place.

"Would you mind telling me about it?" Hana asked. "Don't feel obligated. Tai himself expertly dodged the issue."

"N-No, it's all right," Sora said meekly, the blush on her face receding. "I suppose you have a right to know, though don't mention any of it to Tai. He's not exactly happy about how things turned out."

"I see…" Hana inhaled deeply. "Well, Takenouchi, we have some time before the show starts. Let's hear it."

It was easier to tell than Sora had anticipated. While it was a known fact to her circle of friends that she and Tai had _briefly _dated, she had no original plans of telling Hana about it. Seeing, however, that Hana had caught on to something Sora had hoped to remain buried in the past moved her to comply. Besides, with all the time Hana was spending with Tai, Sora thought it was only fair that she know why she and the soccer captain were no longer the friends they used to be.

In short, Tai and Sora had "dated" the summer before they all went to high school. They were quite young at the time, only fourteen, but both of them couldn't deny that something had radically changed in their friendship once they had reached adolescence. Sora remembered being terribly confused about her feelings for the boy she had grown up with. Did she truly feel a connection with him, or was it just curiosity? The only way to answer it was to find out for herself. Neither of them had confessed their feelings first. Their mutual attraction had been revealed side-by-side each other, after a one-on-one game of soccer, of all things. Tai had suggested going to grab dinner together afterwards, and Sora, going solely by what she saw in the movies had asked, tentatively, "Are you asking me out, Tai?"

"I… uh… I don't know," he had replied, scratching his head. "Maybe… but only if your answer is yes."

Sora remembered studying him in that decisive moment. Her reddish-brown eyes roving over his skinny build, the mop of brown hair, the wary, but eager expression on his face. They had gone through a lot together in their Digidestined years, and for years even prior to that as neighbors, teammates and friends. Sure, Tai had his moments, but so had she. Their friendship had progressed and changed over those years, and Sora wondered if it was time for it to change again, to develop into something more.

"It is," she had told him. "My answer's yes."

She didn't know how Tai had felt about their relationship at its start. Sora had imagined it to be like the shows or movies. She would feel an undeniable affinity for her new boyfriend, wanting to do everything and anything with him. They would hold hands proudly in public, she'd get endearing messages from him during odd hours of the day, relish the arm wrapped around her shoulders as they sat together. Of course, she didn't know any better. Everything she was experiencing with Tai was new, but the novelty of it didn't guarantee joy or happiness.

The truth of the matter was that she found the first week of being Taichi's girlfriend an awkward affair. This was the boy she had known so well, who had freely insulted her and her hats and hair accessories when they were children and preteens, who felt comfortable picking at his nose or toenails in front of her, and who, consequently, knew her own bad habits as if they were the backs of his hands.

When he had tried to kiss her, she had held her breath and cringed. It was one thing to desire a kiss in a daydream, but for it to actually happen terrified her unexpectedly. She wanted it to feel magical. Instead, it felt… weird.

But what bothered her was that Tai was doing everything he could to be the 'perfect' boyfriend. He _did_ hold her hand in public. He _did_ send her sweet messages. He _did_ put his arm around her while they watched movies, and, still, she felt uncomfortable, as though she missed the days when Tai nonchalantly invited her over to play video games, or asked her to dribble a soccer ball with him, or to just talk and reminisce about their Digiworld adventures.

It wasn't that she was unappreciative of his sweet, endearing efforts to be good to her. It was just that she appreciated his brusqueness and honesty more. True, the nerve he had to tell her that she was wearing an ugly hat irritated her more than anything, but it was that same impudence and bravado that also reminded her that he would never lie to her, that he would never sugarcoat the truth in front of her, and that he would never shy away from talking to her about anything. _That_ was the Taichi she admired, not the one who got her flowers, not the one who was trying to fill the stereotypical mold of 'boyfriend.'

By the end of the summer, she had decided to break up with him, and when she had confronted him and told him she'd rather stay friends, he was expectedly upset, but defensively so.

"This was _your_ idea, remember?" he had told her, angrily.

"_Mine?_ If _I_ recall correctly, _you_ were just as eager to commit!"

"It's 'cause Matt's back, isn't it? He was gone this entire summer and now that he's back, you're deciding to break up with me."

"What are you talking about? Matt has nothing to do with it!"

"Yeah, right. And I'm the Queen of the Digital World."

Whether his words were said to spite her or to suggest that she did, indeed, harbor secret feelings for Matt, the result was the same. She followed through with the break-up, much to Tai's disappointment; and even if she wasn't haunted by his words, they did end up being somewhat prophetic.

Mending her friendship with Tai after their break-up was a slow, difficult process, one that she felt was still ongoing. It became especially hard when she found herself officially titled Matt's girlfriend by that winter. Even though Tai never went up to her and said, "I told you so," to her face, she knew that he thought it. Maybe Matt wasn't as direct or courageous as his big-haired comrade, but he wasn't so weak-kneed as to avoid taking a stand for the people he cared about. He was cautious, yes, but understandably so. His parents, after all, didn't exactly have their fairy tale ending, and he was under no illusion that his relationship with Sora would be exempt from problems and hardships.

To him, being her boyfriend wasn't a role for him to play, it was role for him to become, a role to work at. There were still days when Matt told her that he didn't deserve her, and he was glad that she didn't try to tell him, "No, Yamato, you deserve me entirely." Instead, she would kindly remind him, "Well, whether you do or don't, Matt, you're stuck with me for now."

It was during those moments of uncharacteristic spunk that Matt was convinced that Tai had influenced Sora in more ways than she would ever dare admit, and he was thankful for it. He knew what had gone on with Tai and Sora in the past, and he did feel minutely guilty for causing Tai any avoidable pain. He was a good friend and a caring guy (when he felt like it), which explained why, after the wounds of post-break-up heartache had healed, both Matt and Sora had tried setting Tai up with some girls from their school. He needed someone else to think about other than himself, but all of their efforts came to no avail.

"Well," said Hana after listening to Sora's story, "that was… that was certainly not what I was expecting."

Sora quirked an eyebrow at her.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I sort of imagined a very short, but very _hot_ love affair between you and Kamiya, to be honest. One that ended in tragedy when the flame of your passion died out with the arrival of Yamato 'Iceman' Ishida, the epitome of cool—both literally and figuratively."

Sora was not impressed.

"You really need to stop watching Japanese dramas with Yolei, Hana."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Hana replied, shrugging. "_But_, at least I've gotten some dirt on Tai."

"Look, I told you this so that you could understand him better, not so that you can humiliate him."

"Oh, you misunderstand me, Sora. I'm not going to rub this information in his face. I'm going to use it to help him get a girlfriend."

"Wait. You're going to wha—"

"Does he like dancers?" she interrupted. "Because there are a lot of eligible bachelorettes at the studio."

"Um… w-well… I don't know, Hana," she stammered. Sora paused, realizing in Hana's endeavor another possibility. Matt had, after all, told her how Tai presently felt about the prospective ballerina.

"You're a dancer yourself," she continued, a smile spreading on her face. "Maybe you should ask him."

"Huh." Hana readily agreed to the suggestion with a bob of her head. "Maybe I will."

xXx

On the metro ride home, Hana tapped her foot to the beat of imaginary music playing in her head. Her eyes were closed, her arms folded behind her dark, braided hair, her face beaming up at the ceiling. She was mentally going through moves in a routine she was practicing for her demanding ballet instructor. Fall was fast approaching, which meant preparations for the winter season were coming up. She had to be in excellent shape if she was going to impress Nakamura.

Tai sat beside her, their legs occasionally touching when the metro car ran over some shaky ground. Hana was in a surprisingly good mood since Matt's show, even showing no signs of upset at being unable to hang out with Matt and Sora afterwards. The couple was going to get dinner, and Tai knew well that to join them would only give him a heap of unwanted sentiments. He decided it was better to see Hana off home, even though he hadn't quite forgiven her for trying his nerves earlier. Just because she was the newest member of his circle of friends didn't mean he was going to tell her all of his secrets. He had more pride than that.

The metro came to a stop and Hana was startled awake by a tap on her right shoulder. She opened her green eyes to find a young man's face hovering very close to hers, so close that she could make out his pores.

"Is this seat taken?" he asked, smiling and revealing slightly yellow teeth. He smelled like cigarette smoke mixed with some very strong and musty _eau de parfum_.

"Um, no," she said, straightening her back and scooting further into Tai to allow space. "Go ahead."

Once the passenger had settled in, Hana remained glued to Tai's side. Her arm, in all the movement that had occurred, had hooked with his. Uncomfortable and slightly confused, he leaned his head to the side and whispered to her:

"You can scoot back over any time now, Han."

She responded in a similar fashion and spoke to him behind a hand.

"I would, but this guy reeks of cologne. And look at his clothes! Stiff, popped collar, leather jacket, designer jeans. Either he's off to go on a date, or he's looking to get some action tonight. And I don't want to go home smelling like a man. My dad will get the wrong idea."

Tai chuckled.

"You're going to end up smelling like _me_," he said.

"That's okay. You smell better than Mr. Doused-in-Cologne."

Directly afterwards, the youth sitting beside Hana began to converse with her, asking her where she was coming from and where she was headed to. He commented on her shoes, which were plain old sneakers. She proceeded to tell him that they were a commodity in France and even put on a heavy French accent. It was a bad move, as she realized, too late, that her new companion obviously found foreign girls more fascinating than native ones. He began to ask her all about the country, and Hana played every stereotype of her people she could think of.

Tai was trying very hard not to laugh at Hana's bad luck, his eyes nearly watering from holding in his laughter. The only exit Hana found from her garrulous and creepy seat buddy was to get off at the next stop, even though it wasn't the one she was to alight at.

As soon as Tai's feet hit solid concrete, he burst out laughing, much to Hana's embarrassment.

"Shut up," she said, irritated.

"God, that was hilarious!" Tai blurted out, wiping his eyes. "I think the funniest thing you said was when you told him French women don't shave, when you're cleanly shaven legs were right there glaring at him!"

He howled with laughter at the memory.

"I was trying to think of all the things that could turn him off," she said, pitifully defending herself. "What else could I say? You could have saved me a lot of trouble if you just butt in and told him to stop talking to me."

"Why would I?" he replied, his giggles quieting down. "I'm not your bo—" He didn't finish. "It was too good to pass up," was his final excuse.

Hana's only response to that was a meek "_hmph!_" to which Tai reacted with an apology in the form of him nudging her with his elbow.

"Come on, Han," he said. "You have to admit that was funny."

"Fine, fine, whatever," she said, still grumpy. "Maybe you'd understand chivalry better if you actually had a girl to protect." Her tone changed at the prospect and she smiled up at him wickedly.

"So, Tai," she began, "Do you like anyone?"

The question seemed to be pulled from nowhere, like a meteor that suddenly crashed in on his head, leaving a crater in his skull where his brain should have been.

His mind flashed with one command:

_Lie, lie, lie_.

"… No," he muttered, scratching his temple and casting his stare sideways.

"Ah, good," said Hana. "Then I can introduce you to some of the dancers at the studio."

She grabbed his wrist and hauled him toward the escalators that would take them up to the street.

"You like dancers, right?" she asked, looking back at him as they ascended. "Even if you don't, I have a few good reasons why you should." She wasn't giving him any room to reply.

"Uh… dancers are… fine?" he said, when Hana took a moment to breathe.

"Excellent! Now… I'm assuming you'd want to date someone your age or maybe a year younger. No one older, I'm guessing? Do you have hair preferences? Blonde? Brunette? Ginger?"

He pulled his arm free from hers and interrupted her ceaseless string of inquiries.

"Hold up a minute, Hana," he said sternly. "I don't remember calling the Desperately-Seeking hotline, and I also don't remember you being the representative on the other end."

Hana simplified things for him.

"Tai, your friends and family have come to one agreement on your current social state." She marched up to him and poked him in the chest. "_You require a girlfriend_. Everyone wants you to get over yourself and get head over heels in love instead. Also, your other friends have attempted the feat and have remained unsuccessful. I thought I'd give it a go and see what comes of it."

Tai frowned.

"I don't need your help in finding a girlfriend, all right? Who do I look like, anyway? Kaito Yamashita?" He huffed. "And I could care less about hair color."

He didn't understand why he was being defensive. With how he botched up all of his relationships, it would be practical on his part to accept every offering of help that came his way, but he wouldn't take it from Hana—mainly because if he wanted to be set up with anyone, it was, for the time being, her.

"Fine, fine," she relented, allowing Tai to breathe easier. "I won't interfere. But the moment you find someone who sparks even the _slightest_ interest in you, you come to me, and I'll make it happen."

He raised a dubious eyebrow at her.

"What makes you so sure of that?"

"Well, I _was_ born in the city of romance, Tai. I think I know a thing or two about this. Now, how's about we head home?"

It was some five minutes after, the two of them walking in silence down the sidewalk, when he said, out of the blue:

"Brunettes."

Hana whisked her head around to face him, wondering what on earth he was talking about. All she received in return was a cheesy smirk.

"I like brunettes," he clarified.

xXx

**A/N: Was former Taiora supposed to be the shocker? Yes. And if any of you found other things to be shocked about, please share because that was the only shock-bomb I had planned. Next chapter features "Mr. Hot-Shot-Hey-Look-I'm-in-University-and-I-Drive-an-Expensive-Sports-Car." Should be fun… **

**Thank you for reading! **


	19. Nineteen

**A/N: Hana is an idiot. **

xXx

NINETEEN

xXx

**H**ana Kurosawa sat on her bed, her back resting against her pillows and her knees bent, a notebook resting on the incline of her lap. It was almost midnight. Her apartment was silent save for her clock, which contentedly ticked the seconds away. The notes she was studying for an exam the next day had but all become gray blurs to her, occasionally getting into focus when her mind decided to do the same.

Her weeks in school had flown by her, and at present she was about halfway through the trimester. The coldness of autumn had, by then, completely replaced the warm, summer sun, and she found herself heading home from ballet practices dressed snuggly in a coat and scarf, her uncovered head sometimes going over ballet routines. Though, more often than not, she ended up reminiscing on her summer adventures with Tai and her other friends.

It went without saying that her plot to get Tai a girlfriend had failed. Since he often stopped by at the studio after her practices anyway, she decided it was the perfect time to introduce him to some other dancers—none, of course, from the company itself. Company dancers were older, and, as her mentors Ren and Emi so accurately exemplified, they found teenaged boys cute, but not in a positive way. By "cute," they more often meant "pathetic."

Tai didn't appear receptive of any of the girls she introduced him to, regardless of how pretty, how smart, or how charming they were at the initial meeting. When one of them asked, tentatively, if he wanted her number, he said, quite plainly, "No, thanks."

Hana complained about her failed matchmaking to Sora and Matt, both of whom had a very good idea of why Tai was not making her attempts very easy. They kept their lips shut on the truth, however, as they hoped that Hana would be struck with the revelation at some random moment, much in the way one would be hit by lightning.

"I brought the hottest dancer in the school to meet him, and he didn't take two glances at her!" she had whined to them one evening over coffee at Matt's place. They were all gathered in Matt's living room, Sora and Matt on the couch and Hana in an armchair adjacent, their mugs of coffee cooling on the short table before their feet.

"Maybe he... uh… maybe he already likes someone," Matt suggested, trying to be as subtle as possible. Hana quickly refuted the possibility.

"I ask him that frequently, and the answer is the same. And he is definitely _not_ too busy to have a girlfriend, because if he has enough time to spend with me, he has enough time to spend with his non-existent girlfriend."

"Sounds to me like you might be at the center of this, Hana," said Sora, a twinkle in her eye.

"How?"

"Well, you're always there when you introduce him to girls," Matt explained. "Maybe the other girls are intimidated by you."

"You can't be serious." She paused, reading the smug looks on Matt's and Sora's faces with increasing discomfort. "You _are _serious, aren't you? But I don't understand. What kind of girl would ever be jealous of what _I _have to offer? I'm just a pale waif."

"Well, Ryo likes you," Matt pointed out.

"That's different. Ryo's known me his entire life. He knows I'm not Miss Glamorous, and _he's_ actually the one who tells me to watch my weight. If I look the way I do, it's because of him."

"I think you're not giving yourself enough credit, Hana," said Sora as she took a dainty sip from her coffee mug. "Kaito still seems pretty intent on getting you to go out with him."

Hana grunted at the mention of the name.

"So, what? I just… step out of the picture for a bit? Let Tai handle things in his own clumsy fashion?"

"Yep. Pretty much." Matt leaned back in his seat, putting an arm around Sora in the process. "Just give him his space. I'm sure he'll come around eventually. He might even surprise you."

The request was given because Matt happened to know how inescapably smitten Tai had become with Hana over the past two months. That she was around him so often made the confession that was on the tip of his tongue expire into thin air whenever he had the courage to say it.

Matt assumed that two things would happen if Tai did not spend as much time as he did with Hana. Either his feelings would die down, or, he'd gather enough sense to let her know how he felt without getting tongue-tied. He hoped it would be the latter.

"You really think he'll benefit if I just hang out with him less?" asked Hana, a bit doubtfully.

"Yes. Trust us, Hana. We've known Tai longer than you have. What he needs right now is room to breathe."

_And maybe a few good whacks on the head,_ Matt added mentally.

"All right," agreed Hana. She raised her right hand in a mock oath. "I hereby swear to keep Taichi Kamiya's presence minimal in my daily life."

The words were said with the hope that good things would come out of them. Less interaction with him meant that he'd be forced to interact with other people, and among those 'other people,' Hana hoped there resided a future girlfriend. It _had_ occurred to her that she hadbeen spending an awful lot of her free time with the soccer captain, which she tried to justify and condemn simultaneously.

She didn't share any classes with Tai that trimester even though she had been hoping for them to continue being partners in crime. His absence during the day was made up for in the afternoons and evenings after school and on the weekends. That Tai usually agreed to hang out with her assured her that she was still being a good friend to him. After all, she hadn't forgotten how he had helped her adjust to life in Japan. She was indebted to him.

But Hana hadn't gotten so caught up in the routine of seeing Tai every day that she ignored the fact that out of everyone else she had met, Tai was her most frequent companion. Already she had caught whispers in school about 'the ballerina girl and the soccer captain' (mostly spread by Kaito's blabbing mouth). The insinuation was not only disconcerting, but eye-opening.

Although at first she shrugged off the rumors, the fact that they existed planted the possibility in her head, and more than one night she had stayed up late, lying in her bed and contemplating on the boy who always seemed happy to see her and whether or not she began to like his company a tad _too _much.

Sometimes she told herself that it was hard _not _to enjoy Tai's company. He was goofy, he ate like a garbage disposal, and she couldn't explain to herself why she found making him laugh such an accomplishment. It wasn't like his smile made her legs turn to jelly. It just made her feel warm inside—fulfilled, even. Rarely did a thought about her deceased mother or her old life in France cross her mind when Tai was in her company.

She realized she was treading into dangerous territory when she began to miss his mess of brown hair, or when she felt upset that he couldn't hang out with her. The truth alone was enough to make her heart palpitate, and she couldn't risk betraying Ryo—her closest friend since before she could even remember—for someone she had known for just a few months, even if he _did_ have an infectious grin.

With a moan, Hana put the notebook she had been studying aside and stretched out flat on her bed, hands together over her torso. She didn't want anything to change between her and Tai. What they had as their friendship brought her happiness she didn't expect to feel when she moved to Japan. To consider other possibilities would only destroy what she treasured so much about him, and, subsequently, ruin her relationship with Ryo—one that had been in the making for over a decade. She wouldn't dream of doing that to the boy who had been there for her her entire life, who had held her hand tightly and kissed her tears away during her mother's long and difficult passing.

"You're thinking too much into this, Han," she muttered into the plush body of a nearby teddy bear.

The only solution she could think of to help her rid herself of such early feelings (_if _they could even be called such) was to see Ryo and to see him soon. Resolved, she rolled over onto her stomach and reached for the phone on her nightstand. She speed-dialed Ryo Hiraki and listened patiently on her end. What she got was Ryo's voicemail, and she was about to hang up when the automatic message cut off.

"Hana?"

Her heart leapt up to her throat.

"Hi, Ryo," she sang. "Is this a good time?"

"Of course! I've been meaning to call you all week. I just haven't had the time since we video-chatted… what? A few weeks ago? How's it going, _ma belle fille?" _

"Just fine," she said, unable to contain a smile at his poor French. "So… I have this weekend free. I was wondering if you'd like to come down and see me." She paused. "I miss you."

"Then let's change that," he said, more decisively than she anticipated. "I'll come down Friday as soon as I'm done with my classes. Plan out the weekend, Han. I'll be all yours."

xXx

Ryo Hiraki cruised down the street in his red sportscar, his blue eyes concentrating on the road and street signs. Some music was playing softly in his car, the flow of songs interrupted every now and then by a fast food or car insurance advertisement. In the shotgun seat was his day bag, stuffed with the clothes he'd wear over the weekend and some school books. As much as he wanted his attentions to be entirely on his girlfriend, he still had a lot of homework to do. University was no easy trip.

He took a right down a street, stopping abruptly at a crosswalk where the majority of pedestrians were suddenly garbed in green school uniforms. After parking his car in the lot, he waited for Hana to emerge from the school, glancing occasionally at his silver wristwatch. It was agreed that he would take her to ballet practice, and afterwards, they would get dinner.

His phone buzzed the instant he spotted her dark hair and white headband. He started the engine, checking his message while grabbing his bag and throwing it into the backseats. Biting his nether lip, he quickly texted a reply back before getting out of the car to meet Hana. She greeted him in French, which he understood, though he himself couldn't speak very well. And regardless of whatever stares would be sent their way, she also embraced him very openly, though she reserved her kisses for once she was in the car. Ryo wouldn't have minded the public displays of affection, anyway, his French mother having raised him against the typical Japanese reserve he so often encountered. Still, there was such a thing as decorum.

"So… Tokyo Ballet Academy," he mused to himself as he tried to map out a route. He could taste Hana's lipgloss in his mouth. "Is the director still giving you a tough time?"

"Eh, what else is new?" she replied. She laughed lightly at him as she watched him trying to smack the taste of artificial strawberries out of his mouth. She reached over and ran her thumb over his lips. "Though," she resumed, "I really have to be on my toes—literally. Nakamura hasn't quite given me the okay to dance in their production of _The Sleeping Beauty_."

"You know… those dancers I met in Australia were right about one thing. I think their names were Ren and Emi? Anyway, they're right. Sounds like that woman has a stick up her butt."

Hana giggled.

"But other than her, no other problems?" Ryo's blue eyes glimpsed at her as he pulled out of the parking lot. "You look like you've lost some weight."

"Uh, yeah, I did," she said, smiling broadly at him. "Just a few. And no huge problems aside from a few broken toenails and the occasional abdominal cramp."

"Good. I'm glad you're being careful. One broken ankle could be the end of you."

Hana didn't respond. Ryo was just as versed in ballet and its included injuries as she was. He had, after all, been raised by a dancer, and even if he despised the thought of dancing himself, he was an enormous appreciator of the art form. In the past, he frequently told her that she never looked more beautiful than when she was on the stage, and those words meant everything to her.

When they reached the studio, he asked Nakamura personally if he could observe their practices. The woman was doubtful at first, but when he told her who his mother was, she immediately agreed. He didn't fancy himself an expert in the art, but he was very interested to see how Hana had progressed and how she faired amongst the older dancers.

What he found didn't make him very happy. Her pointe-work was slack, her form, less than perfect, her leaps lacking grace. What on earth had she been doing for the past several months? And why on earth was Nakamura letting her dance with the professionals when she wasn't ready? He asked Hana those questions when the dancers were given a break. She looked up at him, breathing heavily from the first hour of barre exercises, her hands on her hips.

"I've just had a lot on my mind," she said. "I've been very busy with school."

It was only a partial lie. She wasn't particularly very busy with school—she was doing fine, in actuality—but she had trouble focusing ever since she began to have concerns about her friendship with Tai.

"Hana," said Ryo, clearly disappointed, "you can do better than this. I've seen you do better. If tackling school and ballet is getting too much for you, maybe you should just pick one and stick to it."

"Ryo, you of all people should know that I've been balancing school and ballet since I was five. I think I can handle this."

"That was in France, Hana. School in Japan is different. A lot different, or have you not noticed?"

She expelled a sharp sigh through her nose, her nostrils flaring slightly.

"I'll do better," she told him tersely. Her green eyes met his bravely, the stiff jaw twitching infinitesimally. "I _will _do better," she told him, defiantly. "Just you wait and see."

Her ten minute break was called to an end and she returned to the center of the room with the other dancers, pairing up with her partner, Max, for the upcoming run through of paired exercises.

"Is there are reason you look like you hate the world right now?" Max asked her in greeting.

"It's nothing. Just… don't drop me."

He snickered.

"Since when have I ever?"

They ran through the routine twice before Nakamura was pleased with the progress. Hana couldn't remember taking her eyes off the mirror, Max's hands on her body as he lifted her and guided her twirls basically nonexistent. She moved like a force to be reckoned with, her steps precise and light, sweat crowning the edge of her brow by the end of the run. Nakamura even came up to her and congratulated her for her performance.

"But you could smile a bit more," she added.

Ryo had witnessed Hana's improvement with a pleased grin. She always did respond to touch.

When practice had ended a few hours later and Hana was busy taking off her pointe shoes, Ryo bent down and kissed her on the side of her sweaty face. He kissed her again when they reached his car, her lips tasting of salt this time, and she broke away from him, giggling.

"I'm starving," she said. "Let's eat."

They decided to take a casual approach to their food and dined at a ramen-ya, though Ryo kindly reminded Hana that she had to watch her weight and that the amount of food she ordered wasn't appropriate. She consented, a bit reluctantly, and had to be satisfied with the one bowl of ramen set before her. To look at the soup only reminded her that if she were with Tai, they'd be slurping up numerous helpings of the noodles, but Ryo almost always had a reason for whatever limitations he set. If she wanted to be in top shape for the upcoming ballet production, she would have to watch what she ate.

The rest of her Friday night was spent at home, watching a horror movie with Ryo. He didn't quite care for the genre, but his girlfriend enjoyed scaring herself senseless. It was better than having her fall asleep during the dramatic films that he preferred.

At present, she sat, curled up against him on the living room sofa, the room unlit save for the blue glow of the television, and the only sounds aside from the movie being the occasional snores coming from Mr. Kurosawa's bedroom. Her hair was slightly damp from the shower she recently took, and his shoulder was wet from her resting her head. She smelled wonderfully of flowers. His arm was around her waist, his fingers sometimes following the curve of her hip, pausing for a moment at the bare skin that lay just underneath the hem of her shirt. He had just nudged her head with his nose and was closing in on a kiss when the apartment intercom buzzed. The noise, coupled with the events of the horror movie, made Hana squeal with panic.

Before Ryo could ask who could be summoning her at ten o'clock on a Friday night, Hana got up from the couch and spoke into the intercom.

"Come on up, Tai," she said.

"Tai?" Ryo echoed when Hana had lifted her finger off of the intercom button. He hadn't quite gotten over the untimely interruption. "What's he doing coming over at this hour?"

"He's going to drop off the tickets to Matt's show," she said. "You said to plan out the weekend, so I thought we could see one of his gigs together."

Ryo's furrowed eyebrows straightened somewhat.

"This actually might work to my benefit." His tone changed. "The Student Government Association is looking to start hosting a monthly concert series with the hopes of promoting and supporting local, young talent. Maybe Matt and his band might be interested in it."

"Well, I don't think the Teenage Wolves will disappoint," she replied.

Tai arrived at her doorstep a minute later, not looking at all surprised to see Ryo in the apartment. Hana had, after all, told him that Ryo would be coming up for the weekend, and so he arrayed himself in a fitting costume of misery for as long as Ryo was present.

"Hi, Tai," Ryo greeted, shaking his hand. "I think I have you to thank for keeping Hana company while I'm at university."

Tai smiled a bit uneasily. By the smirk on Ryo's face, he couldn't decipher if it was a snide comment in disguise or a genuine sign of gratitude.

"When we chat over the phone or through video," Ryo continued, "she has endless things to say about the stuff she's done. I'm glad you've helped keep her busy. Helps her take her mind off of other problems."

"Not so much recently," Tai said, glancing briefly at Hana. "But I'm glad to be of assistance." He cleared his throat faintly afterwards, uncomfortable with the conversation.

"So, Tai," Hana began, seeming to read his mind, "do you have the tickets to Matt's show?"

"Uh, yeah." He fished them out of his pants' pockets and handed them to her. "So… what are you guys up to?"

"Just watching a movie," Hana replied absently, looking over the tickets now in her possession. "How much do I owe you?"

"Uh…" Tai thought for a moment. He didn't want to have to spend any more time in their company, as it was both awkward and upsetting. "Don't worry about it," he said at last.

"Nonsense," Ryo declared. "I'll repay you." He was already reaching for his wallet. "How much were they?"

"Really," Tai said, his voice firmer. "You don't have to pay me back. They didn't cost much, anyway. Matt's not a rock star, yet."

"If you insist," said Hana, setting her fingers on the wallet now in Ryo's grasp. "But do realize we'll find some other way to repay you."

"Just don't, Hana." He sounded far curter than he had originally planned, as told by the surprise that invaded Hana's face. "Sorry," he murmured. An uncomfortable second passed by before he backed out of the door, his mind bent on getting him to the elevator as quickly as possible. He should have just gone to Yolei's, T.K.'s or Cody's to drop the tickets off there and then tell Hana to pick them up from one of the three. But the idea came to him too late.

He punched the elevator button but ultimately never took it down. It was too slow in coming. He opted for the stairs instead, walking down all eleven floors before he exited the building and got his first fresh gulp of air since he arrived. The night sky glittered above him, and he looked up at the stars, trying to recall from memory some of the constellations he and Hana observed so long ago. He recognized a few as he made his way back home, but he couldn't find Sagittarius.

But that made sense. It was autumn. Sagittarius was visible only during the summer. At this time of the year, it was buried somewhere beneath the horizon where it could be ignored for the majority of the winter; but just because it couldn't be seen didn't mean that it wasn't there. After all, it carried the center of the galaxy. It was the point around which everything revolved, and the very same which would cause worlds to fall should it ever cease to exist.

xXx

**A/N: Teasers for the next chapter! (Note: Quotes are not to be read in relation to one another. They are all from separate scenes) **

**1. "You would if Mimi were still in Japan." **

**2. "Let's get you back in your clothes, _._._._._." **

**3. "Well, Sora doesn't really have anything to offer from the top end of things."**

**4. "You don't remember those courtesies, **_._._._._.** …You just vomit out analyses like you're the Buddha—with the answers to everything." **

**Thank you for reading!**


	20. Twenty

**A/N: Aw, your reviews truly humble me. I'm pretty sure this story doesn't deserve so much attention in a fandom teeming with Taiora and Taito and Michi fics, so for those who follow this story, do know that you are very much appreciated. ¡Muchísimas gracias a ustedes! **

**But I'm sure you all are very eager to read the next chapter, so here 'tis without further ado. (And it's a long one!) Also, warning: Underage drinking described and implied. Nothing outrageous, but it does serve as a precursor to some stuff that'll happen, er… later. **

**Happy reading! (O, en español, ¡lea con felicidad!) **

xXx

TWENTY

xXx

"**I**'m surprised at you, Taichi."

Matt looked over his shoulder at his friend, who was leaning against the doorjamb of the band's break room. Tai had decided to help Matt look for Yutaka's pair of lucky drumsticks (without which the show wouldn't start), but ultimately got too annoyed with Matt's topics of conversation to do anything but glower at him from his place by the door.

"You're not going to tell Hana _at all_ how you feel? Isn't that a bit…?"

"Wise?" Tai finished.

"I was going more for, I don't know, _insane_?"

"I'm not planning on telling her anything with her boyfriend around."

Matt paused in his rummaging and faced Tai, his eyebrows wrinkled.

"Tai, this obviously isn't one of those passing crushes. You've got it bad, and if you don't do something, you're going to miss your chance. If you wait too long, you might do something you regret."

"You speaking from experience, Matt? 'Cause the last time I dove headfirst into my feelings for a girl, things didn't turn out in my favor."

Matt's jaw tightened at the underhanded reference to Sora.

"No," he argued. "I'm speaking from my experience in knowing _you_. You're impulsive. You don't think. I bet that when you _do_ confess to Hana, it's going to be at the wrong place and at the wrong time. You're going to blow it."

"What do you think I'm trying to do, Yamato?" Tai countered. "I'm trying to take the cautionary route here. I thought you'd understand that. For once, I _am_ thinking about what I should be doing, and I know that right now isn't the time to tell her."

Matt sighed. This was not a Taichi he was used to witnessing. It fact, he believed it was not like Tai _at all_ to think before he acted, and he feared what bottling up all of his emotions would do to the boy who had always been the first to take action—regardless of consequence.

"This isn't like you, Tai," he said after a long pause. "Keeping your emotions locked up like this isn't good for a guy with your type of personality. You're going to explode."

Tai shook his head. He didn't need to hear this from Matt. He _wouldn't _hear it from Matt, and with a huff, he left to go find his seat. He plopped himself down in between Izzy and Sora, the latter immediately detecting that something was wrong. She tapped Tai on the shoulder.

"What's up, Tai?" said Sora. "You look a bit angry."

"Matt always thinks he knows everything," he muttered, arms crossed. "I don't know how you can put up with him sometimes."

Sora smiled encouragingly.

"You know his intentions are always good, Tai. We're your friends. We want to see you happy."

"That didn't seem to be your philosophy when you broke up with me."

If his motive was to hurt, he accomplished his goal. Sora took the rude comment like an arrow to the chest and shrank somewhat in her seat before altogether getting up and relocating to a seat by Hana and Ryo. As soon as she was gone, Tai uncrossed his arms and put his head in his hands. He just _had_ to open his big mouth.

"I'm an idiot, aren't I, Izzy?" he asked miserably.

"Maybe if you calculated the repercussions of your actions before you did them, you'd get into less trouble," Izzy replied, a bit distractedly. He glanced down at the mobile phone in his hands, a message screen open and the small black cursor blinking. "In other words, or as the Senior Mr. Hida would say, 'If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all.'"

"What are you, my fortune cookie?"

"Take from it what you will, Tai, but I'm not the one with the problems here."

Tai heard what sounded like a sharp intake of breath from Izzy, who had twiddled his thumbs one more time before responding to the message on his phone. He peered at the computer whiz suspiciously.

"You would if Mimi were still in Japan," he said.

Izzy cringed at the name, the phone in his hands being dropped like a hot brick onto his lap.

"Reading over someone's shoulder is rude, Taichi," Izumi grumbled, when he didn't quite look like a startled bird anymore.

"So is sneaking up behind someone," said a voice behind Tai.

A pair of hands slapped Tai on the shoulders, and he flinched, whisking his head around to see who had had the nerve to surprise him.

"Relax, Kamiya," Hana said, chuckling afterwards. She sent a wink to Izzy, hoping her little scare on Tai was a fitting form of vengeance. "I just wanted to run some plans for the rest of the night by you."

It took a few seconds too long for Tai to understand what she was saying. The shock was still draining from his limbs. That, and he swore that the hands she had on his shoulders were burning right through to his skin.

"You're not planning on doing anything crazy like take out a Ouija board, right?" he said, when he had regained his bearings.

Hana giggled.

"I was actually wondering if you'd volunteer to be levitated, Tai. You're a courageous soul, aren't you?"

"The courageous-est." He grinned broadly.

Hana found herself highly tempted to run a hand through that mess of hair, though she couldn't understand why such a desire would overcome her. Since when was dorkiness charming? She cleared her throat.

"But, in all do seriousness," she said, afraid that she was already turning a bright shade of scarlet, "I was wondering if I could invite everyone to my place and we could have a game and or movie night."

"Sounds fine by me."

"Koushiro?"

Izzy reluctantly drew his eyes away from his phone screen, having apparently not heard a word of her conversation with Tai.

"Sure," he said.

"_Bon!_" Hana clapped Tai once on the shoulder before releasing her grip on him. "Any game suggestions? Davis, joker that he is, brought up strip poker, but I reminded him that he was a bit too young to be stripping for me—or anyone, really."

Tai laughed.

"Well… there's the age-old game of Truth or Dare."

"Ahh…" Hana pondered on the suggestion, the upward curve of her lips already betraying her answer. "Should be interesting."

She returned to her seat, giving Tai a brief wave before settling into Ryo's arms. Tai felt mysteriously delighted that she had consulted him for ideas, and, moreover, that she had asked him if he approved of her plans for after Matt's concert. What did his opinion mean to her, anyway?

Apparently, a lot.

"You just _had_ to pick the quintessential high school party game," Izzy muttered. He wasn't pleased with the events planned for the rest of the night, but he knew that he would be joining his friends despite his disappointment. It was a shame that some other levelheaded member of their group was not coming (he was thinking of Cody, who unfortunately had to get his beauty sleep for a kendo competition the following morning). Surely the young Hida boy would think of something other than Truth or Dare to keep him occupied for a Saturday night.

"What would you have had me say, Izzy?" retorted Tai. "Let's go dissect the newest computer model?"

"Truth or Dare is just a way to get people to confess secrets about themselves that they normally wouldn't divulge, _or_ to get them to do the idiotic things they would only imagine doing in an inebriated state."

"In simpler terms?"

"It's a stupid game. You all can play it, but I'll sit out and read one of Mr. Kurosawa's computer magazines."

"Oh, no, you won't," said Tai. "You're not going to hear everyone's dirty secrets without confessing some of your own, Izumi. Plus, looks to me like you're a bit attached to your phone. Someone special texting you?"

Izzy glared at Tai, who couldn't help but smirk.

"I have nothing to confess," he said.

"Oh, I think you do. And it starts with M… i… m…"

xXx

Mr. Kurosawa was disguisedly appalled at the number of teenagers in his home. Yes, Hana had mentioned to him the possibility of having her friends come over, but he thought she meant only a handful, not nearly _all _of them. The pairs of shoes by the front door were enough to make him think that his apartment had miraculously turned into a shoe store. And the coats? He didn't even want to take a peak in their closet.

"So what do you hooligans plan on doing for the rest of the night?" he asked, his eyes narrowed in on the group of youths.

"Oh, you know…" said Hana, smiling as she and a few others pushed the coffee table in the living room to the side. "…playing games. Stuff like that."

Her father had seen that smile too often to take it at face value.

"Uh huh," he said slowly, his lips frowning. "Just don't do anything stupid." He switched his attentions. "Ryo," he called.

Hana's boyfriend turned abruptly away from his conversation with Matt.

"You're the legal adult here. I hope you keep them in line."

The boy gave Mr. Kurosawa a mock salute.

"Will do, sir."

Mr. Kurosawa retired for the night afterwards, shutting the door to his bedroom while muttering something about taking sleeping pills. He knew his daughter was a responsible young woman, but the number of teenagers in his house still bothered him. The last thing he needed on a Sunday morning was to see his living room trashed to oblivion. Feeling his paternal instincts overcome him, he poked his head out of his bedroom door one more time.

"I expect everyone home before dawn, and, if not, that they are comfortably situated here until they decide to leave."

Hana and the others had already gathered in a circle around the newly made space in the living room, the coffee table now pushed against a wall with various bowls of snacks and a few bottles of soda on the surface.

"I'll see what I can do, Dad," Hana replied, in the middle of dealing out a deck of cards.

"All right," Mr. Kurosawa said warily. "Good night, kids."

Less than two minutes had passed before Ryo broke from their circle and went into the kitchen, returning with two bottles of wine from the kitchen. Hana's green eyes widened when he set the bottles smack in the middle of the circle, his movements interrupting her as she dealt out more cards. After all, they could still hear Mr. Kurosawa brushing his teeth in his bathroom.

"How about we skip the cards and go straight to the interesting stuff?" he said, resuming his place by Hana. He stayed her dealing hands. "Not everyone can play cards at the same time, anyway."

"What are you suggesting, Ryo?" said Hana as she gathered the card deck. "Certainly not strip poker?" She winked at Davis.

"Of course not," Ryo said, scoffing. "I doubt Davis knows how to play it. I was thinking going more of Tai's route with Truth or Dare, but with a twist."

The mention of his name drew Tai out of his daydream, a blatant look of shock on his face at the facts that, firstly, Ryo _remembered_ his name and, secondly, that he _liked_ something he had suggested.

"What twist did you have in mind, Ryo?" questioned Yolei.

"I think it's pretty obvious," he replied, gesturing at the alcohol in their midst. "We'll use one of the unopened bottles for a spinner. I propose whoever it lands on takes a swig from the other bottle before getting asked Truth or Dare. If anyone else has other rules to add, feel free."

"Truth is typically the boring one," said Hana. "There should be a penalty. Two swigs for picking Truth. One for Dare."

"I don't know…" posed Matt. "Truth can be pretty juicy if the right questions are asked."

"Point well made, Ishida," replied Ryo, considering the information. "How about one swig to start out, but if you keep picking Truth, or if you keep picking Dare, you have to take an additional swig? That ensures variety."

Izzy raised a hand.

"And if we don't want to drink?"

"Then don't," said Ryo simply, shrugging. "I'm not forcing anyone to do it. I just thought it'd liven up the atmosphere."

"All right, then. Let's just get it going so we don't lose interest," Hana prompted, aware of some tension in the air. "Since you seem so eager, Ryo, you spin first."

Her boyfriend happily agreed, picking up one of the wine bottles and setting it on its side before giving it a twirl. The bottle neck spun several times around before pointing itself at Davis.

"Hit me with your best shot, Hiraki," Davis goaded, smirking proudly as he took the opened bottle of wine and took a sip. "Dare."

"Brave one, are we?" Ryo snickered. "All right, Davis. I dare you to put on tights and one of Hana's tutus."

The wine in Davis's mouth was promptly spewed out.

"_What!_"

"You said Dare, Davis."

A wave of giggles spread through the circle as Davis reluctantly got up, Hana showing him to her bedroom so that she could get him a pair of tights and one of her old ballet tutus.

"Let me know if you need any help," she said, trying hard to contain her laughter.

Seconds later, Davis was crying out for assistance, insisting that he couldn't even get a foot in through the nylon hose. Hana went in to help him, remarking, quite loudly to the others, that Davis was a boxer boy.

It was a lie, in actuality. Davis wore tighty whities, much to Hana's amusement, but she knew that to tell the rest of the world that information would only add to her friend's present mortification.

"I get the feeling Ryo's good at this game," Davis murmured while Hana handed him her tutu. His tights were finally on, and he felt more uncomfortable in them than he would have felt stark naked.

"Yes, well, Ryo's thinking about specializing in psychology. No doubt he has a few tricks up his sleeve." She stepped back after helping Davis into her tutu, a hand covering her mouth. "I think it's time for you to meet your adoring public," she chortled before giving him a few nudges out of the door.

Davis's first greeting was a slurry of whoops and cat calls, followed by the blinding flash of Kari's camera.

"Work it, Motomiya!" Tai jeered. "God, wait until the team sees this!"

T.K. immediately snorted with laughter.

"Talk about your perfect blackmail material," he snickered.

"Don't even think about it, T._E_.," Davis snarled.

"Or you'll what?" T.K. challenged. "Pirouette at me?"

"I'll do more than that, you—"

Hana set a hand on Davis's chest.

"Let's get you back in your clothes, Motomiya," she said, ushering Davis back into her bedroom.

Upon his return, Davis grumpily took his spin, his bottom lip jutting out at the continued chuckles of his friends. His spin, through mere luck, landed on the unsuspecting Hana, who was in the middle of stuffing her face with popcorn.

"Dare," she managed to say through her chewing mouth.

Her interrogator feigned a few moments of pensive thought before coming up with a fitting challenge.

"Okay," said Davis, smirking wryly. "I dare you to… do the chubby bunny challenge."

Hana's greedy hands stopped mid-clutch of another helping of popcorn.

"That's it?" she said, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, yeah," he replied plainly.

"Wait, wait," Ryo interrupted, one of his hands slicing through the air. "Of all the things you could have dared Hana to do, you're daring her to _stuff her face with marshmallows?_"

"Yeah," said Davis with a shrug. "Who says I have to dare anybody to do anything... er… weird?"

"Weird?" Ryo echoed, highly skeptical of the reasons coming from the boy who earlier that night was suggesting strip poker. "All right, Motomiya. Have it your way."

Hana, after finishing the handful of popcorn and taking her swig of the wine bottle, went and grabbed a bag of marshmallows from her pantry and began to see how many she could wedge in her mouth, while saying "Chubby Bunny" between each eaten marshmallow.

"God, that's gross, Han," Ryo commented, turning away from her chipmunk face. "How many are you at?"

"Eight?" She said the number with such difficulty that it made her cheeks hurt.

She ultimately only got to ten (or, according to Davis, nine and a half) before she felt like vomiting. Instead of eating the marshmallows stuffed in her mouth, she spit them all out into the garbage can, much to the disgust of her spectators. She wasted no time taking her turn and spun the bottle, sucking at her teeth as she tried to get the marshmallow taste out of her mouth.

The bottle nose settled on Matt.

"Truth," said Matt, before Hana could even ask him the question.

"_Bon_," she said, handing him the wine bottle. "Have you ever fantasized about a female teacher?"

Her question sent a good many "_Oohs_" to bubble out of the mouths of her friends, some looking very interested in the young musician's reply. Sora sat next to the boy under fire, her arm looped with his and her face calm despite the expressions of mischievous delight plastered on her other friends' faces—like Tai's.

Matt couldn't help but turn red at the question Hana asked him. He didn't keep any secrets from Sora—or his friends, for that matter—but, still, this was not the way he wanted to admit anything about himself.

"Y-Yes," he said, at length.

"_Who_?" Tai demanded, leaning forward.

"Uh… my… eighth grade Lit teacher. Miss Doi."

"_Holy sh—"_

"Wait a minute," Sora interrupted, before Tai finished his exclamation. Her eyebrows furrowed as she tried to remember the mentioned instructor. When she located a face in her memory to put to the name, she turned to Matt, smiling. "Now, I remember. She had black hair and, I believe, wore pencil skirts to class every day."

Matt chuckled uneasily.

"Yeah," he murmured, looking at the floor. It was those damn, tight pencil skirts that made many a prepubescent boy's eyes wander during class.

"If I recall correctly," continued Sora, switching her eyes to Tai who was sitting complacently across the circle, "didn't _you_ tell me that you thought Miss Doi was hot?"

Tai shrugged, feigning any knowledge on the fact.

"Lots of guys did. I wouldn't be surprised if I was one of them."

"Smooth, Kamiya," Ryo contributed. "So, Matt, were you the kind of kid who confronted such a hot teacher with bashfulness, or were you full of bravado like Kamiya here?"

"She did… uh… make me feel nervous whenever I had to approach her desk," said Matt, scratching his head.

Ryo snickered.

"And how often did that happen?"

Hana elbowed him in the chest for the question.

"What?" he defended, uselessly. Hana's glare did not lift. "Fine. So what, uh… _asset_ of hers did you admire the best, Ishida?"

"_Ryo!_" She swatted him on the head.

The blush that had for the most part stayed on his face, crept down to Matt's neck, silencing him for the time beginning.

"If I know Matt," said Tai, grinning devilishly. This was perfect payback for his lectures earlier in the night. "He'd probably say ass."

Ryo burst out laughing, slapping his hand on a knee, more so when Matt barked back, "No one asked you, Tai!"

"Well, Sora doesn't really have anything to offer from the top end of things," remarked Davis, idly.

The red-haired girl jerked her head around, her face flustered and pink.

"_Excuse me_?" she shrilled.

Ryo laughed all the harder.

"Guys, guys, calm down!" said T.K., waving his arms in the air to get everyone's attention.

"Spin, Matt! Spin!" cried Hana, her face breaking into a smile as it unsuccessfully tried to contain her giggles. "Before things get out of control!" She promptly gave her boyfriend another elbow in the ribs for causing so much trouble. Ryo caught her arm and retaliated by pinching her waist, causing her to jump. He laughed and she went to give him a warning pat on the cheek, when he grasped her hand and pushed it away from his face. His breath smiled like wine.

"Yoohoo! Lovebirds!" shouted Yolei, snapping her fingers a bit to get their attention. "Bottle's spinning. Maybe you're next, Hiraki."

The joke was on Yolei, for she happened to be the next victim, followed by Ken and T.K. All three of them chose Truth, and it was discovered that Yolei had last picked her nose on the Thursday of that week, Ken had been avidly following a shameless Japanese drama, and T.K. had, unsurprisingly, little to say about Kari's faults.

"She's a little dependant on people," he had said. "And maybe she doubts herself too often."

When it was his turn to spin, the bottle pointed at Ryo, who was asked a similar question about Hana, prompting several pairs of eyebrows to rise in anticipation of what he had to say. Perhaps most intrigued was Hana, whose green eyes were fixed on her boyfriend's relaxed smirk.

"Hana's faults?" he echoed, buying time to think about the question, though he already had a few prepared. He reached for the open wine bottle and drank generously from it.

"Well, she's bossy," he began. "Put her in charge of something and she gets all anal-retentive about it—which can be both good and bad. You are almost ensured good results, at the expense of your dignity. She also… ah… she's…" He cleared his throat. "_Selfish_. Sometimes she thinks the world revolves around her, and that's entirely understandable given the facts that she is one, an only child, and two, a dancer. Hana doesn't expect to have a role in how events happen around her. She considers herself an exception. _Things_ happen _to her_. Not the other way around. It's the perfect mentality to vindicate yourself of anything you do. _I_ didn't hit that car. _It_ hit _me_."

Hana peered at him, her lips remaining shut throughout his entire analysis of her worst qualities.

"You had to go all psychologist for this one, didn't you?" she muttered, glaring at him. Saying, simply, that she was bossy and selfish would have sufficed. He didn't have to explain why she was those things, though, she had to admit, they made astonishing sense.

"Sorry, Han. Taking so many psychology classes does this to you. I'll let you know next time if I decide to go Freudian on you."

"You don't remember those courtesies, Ryo," she retorted, refusing his apology. "You just vomit out analyses like you're the Buddha—with the answers to everything."

"Well, Hana, maybe you'll come to appreciate these insights when you're in university yourself, which probably won't be for a while since you plan on playing ballerina until you're thirty and too old for any company to want you."

Before the fire in Hana's eyes could even be set ablaze, Sora gave the couple a wave to draw them out of their public bickering.

"It's your turn to spin, Ryo," she reminded, before Hana could utter one word.

Ryo consented easily enough and spun the bottle, highly aware of the ire Hana was reserving for him after her friends had left. He knew he shouldn't have made that jab at her, but Hana responded to criticism with an almost violent passion. She needed to be pushed, to be forced to doubt herself if she was ever going to be fully certain that ballet was what she wanted to do. His words had been a favor, and she would realize it after she had yelled at him for making her feel and look stupid.

When the bottle head had selected its next victim, Ryo's blue eyes traced the line of direction and found himself looking straight at Tai Kamiya.

"I was wondering when it would be your turn," he said, getting back into the spirit of the game and tossing his tiff with Hana aside.

"You weren't the only one," Tai replied. "I've been waiting for someone to dare me to eat a spoonful of wasabi." His eyes shifted briefly at Hana, who smiled at the mention despite whatever annoyance she was currently expressing for her boyfriend. Something told Tai that she would appreciate the allusion.

"So what is it, then? Truth or Dare?"

Tai took his gulp of wine first before surprising everyone by saying, "Truth." His excuse for dodging "Dare," was, cleverly put:

"I'd rather not have to go through what Davis did. Tutus and tights are modeled just fine by Hana."

"Yeah, they are," said Ryo wryly, setting a hand on Hana's leg, which she swiftly brushed off. "So…" he resumed, ignoring Hana's petty aggression. "Hana tells me you don't have a girlfriend."

The observation caught Tai off guard and he started for a moment before stopping himself.

"Maybe you should add 'gossiper' to that list of faults of yours," Tai retorted.

Ryo chuckled.

"I didn't think I touched a nerve, Tai. Whenever Hana tries to matchmake, her intentions are always good. But you didn't answer my question."

"I don't," Tai said flatly. He didn't know where the conversation was going. Ryo hadn't exactly given him a "Truth" question yet.

"I see…" Ryo pondered over the confirmation for a few seconds, his blue eyes looking over the faces gathered in Hana's living room. "So, Tai," he began, "of all your friends who are girls, who would you take out on a date? No conditions whatsoever. Yolei, Sora, or Hana?"

Tai's defensive measures kicked in instinctively—in the form of snide remarks.

"What is this? A dating show?"

"You said, 'Truth,' so let's hear it."

Tai frowned, upset that he felt obligated to comply to the invisible rules of a stupid teenage game. He could just refuse, but that would kill everyone's good spirits and leave them stewing in awkward silence for the rest of the night. Maybe Izzy had a point about the game.

"I would take… uh…" He scratched his head, his palms already feeling damp and gritty and his ears burning as the truth solidified on his tongue. Risking it, he glanced at the face of each girl Ryo had named, his gaze lasting a second longer on Hana, who waited patiently for his reply.

"… Sora," he murmured. The name he had wanted to say was swallowed down his throat as if it were a stone. "I'd take Sora," he reiterated, more confidently. "I've known her the longest."

Ryo seemed pleased with the answer and turned to the selected girl, who was leaning on Matt's arm, not looking at all surprised by Tai's choice.

"You all right with that, Sora?" he asked.

"Tai and I have known each other for a long time, Ryo," she said, good-naturedly, "but I'm pretty sure I've known him long enough to know that his answer was one of convenience."

Tai was tempted to snort in response. Confessing how he felt about Hana was not on his agenda for the night, especially with not only Ryo in attendance, but all of his friends.

"Well, if he chose you because he's known you the longest," Hana said, joining the conversation, "that must mean I was his least likely candidate, having known him the least." She switched her green gaze to Tai, smirking ever so faintly. "Damn, Kamiya. I never knew your standards were so high."

"They're not," he said, trying to justify himself and failing at it. _Now_, he decided to change his mind? What was the matter with him? "It just seemed like the most logical choice."

"Right," said Hana, doubting his reasoning and smirking arrogantly at him. "Because Sora currently isn't dating anyone at all, Tai. She's completely free for the taking."

"I didn't mean it like that—"

"In which case you're most _logical_ choice should have been Yolei."

"Oh, ew," said Yolei, in regards to the possibility of dating Tai. She and Tai exchanged equally disturbed glances. "Um… no. Just, no."

"Yeah, well, you're no prize yourself, Inoue," Tai muttered.

"Ha! At least I'm clearly _not_ the least desirable person in the room," she sneered. "Well, aside from Davis, that is."

"I think you all are taking what is supposed to simply be a hypothetical situation out of proportion." This came from Izzy, who felt the need to intervene before their game night turned into something not dissimilar to Ken's favorite Japanese drama.

"Easy for you to say, Izzy. You haven't had your turn, yet," snapped Tai.

"I'm trying to get this game back where it should be," he returned. "If you want to play telenovela, go ahead, but I'll be leaving."

"He's right," said Ryo. "It's just a game. So Tai would prefer to take Sora out on a date if she was available? Big deal. So he isn't really compatible with Yolei or Hana? So what? Kamiya has his preferences, and he's free to express them. Now, let's get moving."

He kicked the wine bottle to send it into Tai's direction, prompting him to flick the bottleneck quickly before anyone decided to pick up the petty argument again. Tai's spin eventually targeted his own sister, who bewildered everyone by saying "Dare." Ryo was keen on hearing what Tai had arranged for his sibling, but didn't catch what he said when he felt Hana's hand slide over his and her fingers slipping in between his own. It was her silent way of apologizing, which he accepted without hesitation, eventually letting go of her hand and opting to put an arm around her shoulder instead.

"He's daring Kari to eat a spoonful of raw cinnamon," Hana informed him, knowing full well what Ryo was trying to figure out when he saw Kari step out of the circle and into the kitchen.

"Wow. Someone needs to capture her reaction."

"I'm on it," said T.K., Kari's camera already in his hands. When Kari returned, cinnamon bottle and spoon in hand, T.K. did the honor of counting down for her while everyone leaned forward in anticipation.

"Three… two… one…"


	21. Twenty-One

**A/N: Short chapter, but it sets up a lot of stuff that will take place later. Chapter 23 is also high up on my "Favorite Chapters" list, if that gives you all anything to look forward to. **

**Thank you again for your reviews, and happy reading! **

xXx

TWENTY-ONE

xXx

**T**ai glanced over his shoulder every now and then as he helped Hana dry dishes. Ryo was in Hana's bedroom, taking a phone call, even though it was past midnight. He wondered who was so important on the other end that he had to drop everything and take the call even though Hana needed all the help she could get cleaning up the living room. If Hana had any suspicions about her boyfriend's behavior, they weren't expressed.

"See? You are perfect for this job, Kamiya."

Her voice remained stridently perky, even though her lazy body language suggested that she was aching for sleep. It could have also been the effect of the alcohol they had all shared in drinking. In fact, quite a few of their friends were still battling the effects of wine, Yolei and Ken giggling amongst themselves in a corner of the living room, Davis making his fifth, announced trip to the bathroom, Matt and Sora beginning to make their private relationship less… _private_.

He turned to her in the middle of putting a bowl on the top shelf of a cabinet, glad that he wasn't under the wine's particular enchantments.

"If Kari and I were washing and drying, we'd require a stool," Hana continued, remarking on his height without actually saying that she was.

"Or maybe you could just stand _en pointe_," he said. "You'll probably be able to reach the second shelf."

"But not the third," said Hana. "That's where you're helpful. And look at you, Tai! Speaking French! _C'est merveilleux! _Even if it's just a ballet term."

"I guess you and Kari are finally rubbing off on me."

"Does this mean you may be interested in seeing an actual ballet? Or would that put you straight to sleep?"

"I don't know. Next time there's a show, I'll take you and you can find out."

He was tempted to bite his tongue after he had made the suggestion. Ryo Hiraki was just a room away and he was seriously flirting with Hana, not that she was doing anything to stop him. She giggled.

"Sounds like a possibility," she said, nearly making the glass he was putting away slip from his grasp. "If I get to dance in _The Sleeping Beauty_, you are _definitely_ going to sit through your first ballet. Though, it all depends on how things go with Nakamura letting me dance in their production, but even so, I'd like you to see a ballet before the end of the year."

"I'm going to hold that against you, you know," he said quietly. Hana raised an eyebrow at him, wondering over his seriousness. He glanced at her from the side. "We haven't exactly been hanging out much lately."

Hana left the water running from the faucet, though her gloved hands had staid themselves from scrubbing and rinsing any more dishes. Biting her bottom lip, she turned around fully to face Tai. A part of her had hoped that he wouldn't notice her gradually etching him out of her schedule, but she should have known better.

"I've just been very busy, Tai," she said. It was not a complete lie. "I've been trying to get into the best shape I can for Nakamura. Ryo says my form needs a lot of tuning, and he's always right. If Ryo—an amateur appreciator of ballet—can spot my flaws, Nakamura will surely see them, too, and I'll just be stuck doing bi-weekly practices with other nobodies. I don't want that."

Tai remained unconvinced.

"How did _you_ think you were doing?" he asked.

Hana shrugged.

"I thought I was doing fine. Maybe a few slipups here and there, but nothing ugly." She sighed. "Maybe I was just having too much fun."

"You're kidding, right?"

"No, I'm serious. There's always a time for work and play, Tai. I've been doing too much play since I moved here. When I lived in France, I hardly had time to spend with my friends. Ballet was always my priority."

"Maybe because none of them cared about you enough to make sure you got a breath of fresh air every now and then."

"They just accepted it, Tai. That was what I was. I was the girl who went to school for half the day and then, for the other half, danced on her tip-toes until they bled. It didn't have anything to do with how much they cared about me."

"Then they didn't—" He cut himself off, setting the last glass he had the stomach to dry in the cabinet before shutting it and setting the towel in his hands on the countertop.

"Didn't what?" Hana asked.

"Nothing. It's late. Kari and I should get home before our parents murder us."

Before she could even scold him for leaving her alone to finish the dishes, he left to find his sister. And when he and the others were by the front door putting their shoes on and preparing to leave, he wouldn't let her say goodbye to him in the fashion she had grown accustomed. He dodged the peck on the cheek and the hug that she expressed for their other friends and merely gave her a pat on the shoulder. The slight made her feel uncommonly cold and, for some odd reason, ashamed. She thought giving Tai more space would motivate him to seek other people to hang out with—perhaps even find himself a girlfriend, but she didn't think it would create a fracture in their friendship.

She assumed, if anything, that whenever they did see each other, they'd be delighted to be in each other's company, but Tai had expressed the very opposite. He seemed rather tired of her company, agitated, even, whenever he was with her.

When everyone had left, she sat herself down on the living room couch, hugging her arms. Ryo was still on the phone and he emerged from her bedroom a few minutes afterwards, surprised to find all of Hana's guests gone.

"I feel like a jerk," he said, taking a seat beside her. "I should have said goodbye."

"Yeah, you should have," she teased, leaning into him and cherishing the kiss he planted on top of her head. "Who were you talking to?"

"Just a… university friend. They, ah… they went to a new club in Kyoto and had to make me jealous by calling me from there and telling me what I was missing out on."

"They must have been pretty coherent if you managed to talk to them for that long."

"Well, one of them wasn't drunk, playing mother hen, you could say. So we talked while I could hear the others partying in the background."

"I'm sorry you're stuck here with me playing baby games."

"Your friends _are_ a tame group, Han. I was expecting there to be some naughty stuff going on with our game of Truth or Dare, but man, are they innocent. No one even streaked!"

"I think they're just unfamiliar with you."

"Fine, fine. Make me the partypooper." He hugged her close to himself. "But all in all, they're a good bunch, Hana. I know I can't always be here for you, so it's good to know that you're finding friends to take care of you in my absence."

His mind drifted to one of her friends in particular, but any further comment on the subject was withheld.

"But you won't be away from me forever, right?" she asked, gently easing him flat on the couch. "Why don't you think about transferring to Tokyo University for next year? I hear it's even better than Kyoto. Plus, your campus won't be far from the stud—"

He put a finger to her lips.

"Hold up a minute, Hana. Firstly, it's not that simple. And I actually kind of like living in Kyoto. It's a nice city, I've met lots of people and made tons of new friends, I don't have my dad around heckling me." He set a hand on the back of her head, his fingers running through her hair.

"Just focus on the present for now, Hana. You have a lot going on in your life," he said softly, looking into her face. "And, frankly, I don't want to disappoint you."

She smirked in reply, clearly not taking his words with any consideration.

"You never have, Ryo," she said, tapping him lightly on the nose. "And you never will."

xXx

**A/N: Here. Here is a looming black cloud. It is called, "FORESHADOWING." **


	22. Twenty-Two

xXx

TWENTY-TWO

xXx

**S**houts were being cried out behind her, accompanied by the thuds of slippered feet dancing atop the floors of the practice room. She could see the whirling figures of her fellow dancers in the mirror she was facing, though her back was turned toward the action. The reflection, too, revealed Emi and Ren gossiping as usual in a corner, using their ten minute break to spread or build on rumors circulating among the corps. Ren herself wasn't supposed to be present in the room, as she had been temporarily promoted to soloist due to the injury of another dancer.

After taking a swig from her water bottle, Hana turned away from facing the mirror and sat down on the floor, stretching her legs while the other dancers went through some more routines for _The Sleeping Beauty_. What had been her hope ever since she began lessons at the academy had finally come true. Nakamura, pleased with her improvement practicing with her troupe, had finally asked her to fill the corps spot for the winter season.

"Understand, Miss Kurosawa," Nakamura had warned, "that this will require your utmost dedication. You will, essentially, be running on a schedule befitting a full-time dancer. You may want to discuss your academic future with your teachers before you accept my offer."

The opportunity was too good to pass up to let her school work get in her way. Athletes were given leniency when it came to grades due to the sheer amount of time spent doing their sport. How was ballet any different?

Her father was in attendance when she met with her teachers to reach an agreement that would fit both their needs. Mr. Kurosawa naturally expressed some worry over his daughter's decision. In France, such a feat was never required of her. Ballet was only as intensive as any other extracurricular sport. This time, however, it would be more than that. She was to dance in an actual production, and from what he knew from living with a former ballerina, it would not be easy.

It was eventually settled that Hana would need to pass all of her classes, and she would be required to be in school full time for at least three days of the academic week. Tutors would be arranged to help her make up for lost class time. Late or absent assignments would be assessed with consideration, and final exams and projects would be graded under a different—that was, a more _lenient—_curve.

She had had to get into the swing of things rapidly. Nakamura ran them all on a very tight schedule. She hadn't even told her friends about the exciting news, and since, nowadays, she spent most of her lunch periods catching up on missed lessons, she didn't know when or how she would explain to them her sudden absence.

A nudge in her back plucked her from her musings, the startled look on her face provoking Max to chuckle.

"We're up, Hana," he said.

It was the last routine of the night, and when they had run through it three times at Nakamura's behest, practice was ended—earlier than anticipated.

As Hana gathered her things and went to change out of her ballet clothes, Ren stopped her.

"Since we're getting out early, Max, Emi and I were thinking about getting dinner and then hitting a club later tonight. You want to come?"

It wasn't the first time Hana had been asked to partake in the older dancers' typical weekend outings. It was a Friday night, after all, and so far she had denied all of their invitations not necessarily because she had other things to do, but because she knew it would be weird hanging out with people who were older and more experienced than her.

"I'll have to take a rain check on the invite, Ren," she said. It was the excuse she had rehearsed on her tongue, and Ren had heard it enough times to accept it anymore.

"Come on, Kurosawa," she whined. "Tell you what, I'm going to ask you this question again next Friday, and your answer is going to be _yes_. You look like you need to get out for once. Invite your friends, too. What's-his-face—the boy with the big hair. Tai, was it? Anyway, invite your friends if that'll make you feel more comfortable. I'll get you all in, even if you're underage."

"What if they don't want to come?"

"Pfft. What kind of teenager would pass up going to a club on a Friday night with us cooler, older kids, huh?"

Hana cast her glance sideways. She knew quite a few.

"All right," she said. "I'll ask them."

"Good. Now, go off and study, or do whatever the hell it is you have to do on a Friday night."

Hana spent the majority of that particular weekend catching up on missed school work. Her father had specifically requested no social life until the next weekend, in which she would be free to carouse as much as she wished. If his wife were still with them, he knew she'd never allow Hana a break, but Mr. Kurosawa feared what the demands of both the production and school would do to his daughter who was still very much adjusting to life in Japan.

His daughter, unbeknownst to him, was of a different mind. It wasn't her father who had confiscated her cell phone and her laptop, and forbade her from watching television. When Hana had excitedly called Ryo to tell him the good news, he automatically recommended putting her phone and laptop in a lockbox.

"You know it's what your mother would have done," he answered in reply to her bootless pleas to keep her tech gadgets.

But he was right, as usual. It was during such demanding moments in her life that Hana felt the absences of her mother and Ryo at their strongest. She could do with the extra scold or warning to keep her mind focused, and they had always been the people to give it to her. Any distraction would prove detrimental to her academic career.

The only other face she saw aside from her father's was Izzy's. He still diligently came tri-weekly to tutor her in computer programming. She would attempt to wheedle news about their mutual friends out of him, but Izzy remained cryptic in his replies. The only information she received plainly from him was that one of their old friends, Mimi Tachikawa, was coming for the holiday season. News about Matt, Sora and Tai were answered with more or less a variation of, "You should just ask them yourself, Hana."

It was on the Monday of the next week—one and a half weeks _after_ she had officially become a participant in the winter ballet—that Hana finally had the opportunity to show her face to her friends. Although she shared classes with Matt and Sora, there was never enough time to tell either of them what was going on in her life. She could barely squeeze in a hello before class started and her attentions had to be focused on the lessons. With Tai, she felt exceptionally guilty. He was left entirely out of the loop, having no classes with her at all. When she spotted his big, hairy head as she walked into the cafeteria, her steps quickened on instinct.

"How've you been, Kamiya?" she said loudly, slapping a hand on his shoulder as she snuck up behind him. The jolt of her sudden touch made Tai react as if he had been struck by lightning. He spun around, getting up from his seat when he realized it was truly Hana standing behind him.

"Hana," he said, a tad breathlessly as he recovered from his shock.

"Yes, I'm alive," she replied, looking away from him to give Sora, Matt and Izzy a wave. "I mean, well… I'm pretty sure none of you thought I was dead… because that would be preposterous. Well, not _really_. I mean, Izzy still tutors me and—" She stopped, realizing she was talking too much and too quickly. She began anew.

"It's good to see you all," she said, turning to Tai. "You can take your seat again, Kamiya. This isn't the nineteenth century where men stand up whenever a woman enters and leaves the room."

He smiled feebly and sat himself down, Hana taking the empty seat beside him.

"So, now that you're out of hiding," said Tai, resuming more normal behavior around her, "what drew you away from us in the first place? Did Ryo finally decide to move down here?"

"No, nothing of the sort, and even if he had, it wouldn't have been as exciting as what I'm about to tell you."

"Oh?" Tai raised an eyebrow. What could be more important than Ryo Hiraki?

"I'm dancing in the Tokyo Ballet's rendition of _The Sleeping Beauty_ this December," she announced. She had run through how she would tell them the good news so many times that the words sounded flat coming out of her mouth. Of course, Izzy already knew, and he might have already told the rest of them, but she announced it nonetheless.

"Congratulations!" cried Sora. "I'm guessing they got you working right away, then?"

"Yes, that's how it went," said Hana. "Everything's fallen into sequence so rapidly. Practices are long and intense. On good days, we're out by seven. On bad ones, I'm not home until ten. You've probably noticed I'm not in class Tuesdays and Thursdays."

"I was wondering why no one was commenting on your absence from gym," Sora remarked.

"I put in a full day's of work on those days," Hana said. "Like the professionals. Except they don't have school to worry about. My homework stack is yea high." She raised a flattened palm up to the top of her head. "It explains the emaciated and sleep-deprived look."

"I hear those things are in vogue these days," Tai teased. He _had_ noticed that she looked so haggard that she looked ill.

"Oh, yes," said Hana, joining in his sarcasm. "Sunken, dark circles and bloodshot eyes are totally this winter's choice look."

"And you pull it off amazingly."

She laughed.

"You're lying," she said, "but I appreciate it, Tai."

"I'm assuming this is going to be a longtime commitment," deduced Izzy.

Hana nodded.

"Yeah. Things won't go back to normal until after the show's complete run, which doesn't come until late January," she said. "My dad's worried my grades will suffer and I won't graduate on time. I'm doing my best to see to it that that doesn't happen. Hence why I've eliminated my social life."

"That can't be healthy," opined Matt.

"I know," Hana acknowledged. "The other ballerinas de-stress every week, and they always invite me along, but I know it will be weird hanging out with twenty-somethings all night, so I was wondering…" Hana grinned uneasily and scratched her head. "Well, they invited me to dinner and dancing this coming Friday. So… I was wondering," she resumed, "if you'd all like to come with me."

A short moment of silence passed over her friends' clueless heads, making Hana wonder if her invitation had gone unheard.

"Wait a minute." Matt broke the uncomfortable quiet. "Are you inviting us to go with you and the other dancers?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm doing," replied Hana. "They intend to go to dinner and then go to a club."

The mention of the last word sent several pairs of eyebrows up.

"I know," said Hana. "We're underage, but one of the ballerinas will try to get us in. If not, then, well, there are other things to do on a Friday night, right? Also, I know it's a bit sudden. If you guys have plans, feel free to follow through with them."

"Well, I'm up for it," said Tai, shrugging a shoulder.

"You can't dance to save your life, Taichi," said Matt, not surprised that Tai would be the most willing to go.

"The club has a bar and lounge area," explained Hana. "So if dancing's not your thing, you can just sit around and talk. Though, I have every intention of dancing."

"I would have never guessed," laughed Matt. He and Sora exchanged looks before giving Hana a nod of agreement. "Sure. We'll go with you."

"_Bon!_" cheered Hana. She craned her head to the side, her green eyes now fixed on Izzy for a response.

"Koushiro? How about you?"

Izzy had no difficulty at all giving her a reply.

"I'm sorry to have to refuse your invitation, Hana," he said, in his usual, precise tone. "I have a…" His dark eyes shifted. "… web meeting with a fellow… colleague. It's rather important."

"Is this colleague's name Mimi Tachikawa?" Matt teased.

Izzy narrowed his glare on the budding musician, but said nothing in reply, silently confirming what everyone else was thinking about him and their distant fashion expert.

"Aw, look at you blushing, Koushiro," Hana cooed, giving him a friendly nudge in the arm. "I hope you have fun then with your 'web meeting,' and I hope I get to meet this 'colleague' of yours one day."

"I'm sure you will," Izzy murmured, his face still red.

"So, Kurosawa…" said Tai, steering their conversation down a different trajectory. He knew well what it felt like to be teased about girls, and he thought he'd spare Izzy any further humiliation. "How've you been aside from all this… ballet stuff?"

"All right," she said, half-heartedly. "Everything's going fine." She paused, looking at him as if she had forgotten that there were other people at the table. "It's good to see you, Kamiya," she said. "You look good."

He smiled, and although he was tempted to put an arm around her shoulder, he settled for a light nudge on her arm.

"Don't I always?" he teased.

Hana giggled.

"Oh, yeah, Tai. You're a real ladykiller, especially with that hair." She couldn't help it anymore and she ruffled his hair with her hand, something she had never done before. Tai replied by pushing her headband down over her face, all of their flirting, meanwhile, being witnessed by a very pleased Matt and Sora.

"You think it's going to happen?" Sora asked her boyfriend in an aside.

"It has to," he said. "Something's wrong with the cosmos if it doesn't."

xXx

**A/N: Teasers from Chapter 23! (Can you fill in the blanks or guess who says what? XD) **

**1. "And _._._._._? I'm not trying to impress him, no. I doubt he'd find me or my attire very sexy."**

**2. "Hey, _._._._._. Take shotgun. I'll look like a hot cougar taking my high school boy toy out to get trashed."**

**3. "Jeez. What is that you're wearing? A rag?"**

**4. "Where the hell'd you get a _._._._._ _._._._._at your age?"**

**5. "I'll admit I'm selfish, _._._._._. But I won't do that to _._._._._. Or _._._._._."**

**And on top of that, I've written another One-Shot of Tai and Hana. The thing is that it takes place like… 15+ years from where they are at the _end_of _The Center of Everything_, so I don't know if it would be something you all would like to read now, or if you'd rather I not spoil anything for you. If, however, you'd like a glimpse of their future, then this One-Shot may give you exactly that. **

**Thank you again for reading! **


	23. Twenty-Three

**A/N: Thank you for your reviews! I'm trying to be good about updating. And as mentioned earlier, my new one-shot of Tai and Hana is up. It's called "Handprints," and it's cheesier than a wheel of aged cheddar. Bahaha. **

**Warnings: This chapter contains underage drinking. (Because booze always makes things interesting. XD) Anywho, this is a LONG chapter. So brace yourselves. **

**Happy reading!**

xXx

TWENTY-THREE

xXx

**K**ari leaned against the doorjamb to the room she and her brother shared, her arms crossed and a smile on her bright face. Her brother stood by their bunk bed, thumb and forefinger cupping his chin as he frowned at the assortment of clothes laid out on his bed.

"Matt said he's on his way here, Tai," she announced. She had never seen her brother so concerned about what he was going to wear.

"Okay," he responded absently.

He admitted to himself that he was having a rather Hana Kurosawa moment with his inability to decide what was appropriate for the events planned for the night.

"Why do I even care what I'm wearing, anyway?" he muttered to himself.

He ran a hand over his face, ashamed and downright tired from staring at his clothes for so long.

"Screw it," he grumbled, reaching over and grabbing a set of clothes before shooing his sister out of the room.

He had just finished dressing when Matt arrived, literally exiting his bedroom the instant Matt was welcomed through the front door.

"So what time did Hana say to meet at her place?" asked Matt.

"Six, I think," Tai replied, checking his watch. They had ten minutes to get to Hana's apartment. "I'm ready when you a—"

A strong hand clapped Tai on the shoulder, making him wince visibly. It was his dad.

"All right, champ," Mr. Kamiya began, "so this party you all are going to…" His eyebrows furrowed in paternal examination.

Tai explained the schedule of events for the night: dinner, followed by going to a "party" one of the basketball players was throwing. The latter was a lie he easily let slip from his slips.

"And these 'colleagues' of Hana's? Are they… _joining_ you?" asked the senior Kamiya.

"No. They plan on going to a club, and, well…" Tai shrugged, smirking a bit. "We're too young."

Mr. Kamiya released his son very reluctantly. This wasn't the first time Tai had gone out to a typical 'high school' party, complete with liquor and a lack of parental supervision, which meant that it wouldn't be the first time he'd get the lecture of a lifetime if he came back home completely smashed.

"And you're too smart to do anything stupid like sneak into the club with them, right?" Mr. Kamiya said sardonically, smiling omnisciently albeit. Tai had to clench his hands to keep them from scratching his head.

"Exactly, Dad," he said, grinning briefly. "We'll be fine." He checked his watch again, his eyes never reading the time. "Well, we have to meet up with the girls, so…" He finished his answer with a jerk of his thumb over his shoulder.

Before his father could reply, Tai sprinted for the coat closet, grabbing a jacket and putting it on before lacing on some shoes. Matt calmly got up from the living room couch and joined him in their narrow foyer.

"You know the rules, Mister," Mrs. Kamiya called from her place in the kitchen. She stepped out, wiping her hands on an apron before addressing her son again. "Home before midnight, and if you're not—"

"I know, I know, Mom," said Tai irritably. "I'd better have a darn good excuse in the morning. I got it."

"Okay." She straightened the collar of his shirt and jacket before giving him a pat on the face and letting him go.

"You know he's going to break every rule you set, right?" Kari piped up, sharing a knowing look with each of her parents as soon as Matt and Tai were out of the apartment.

"Of course he is," Mrs. Kamiya said, shifting her eyes to her husband. The senior Kamiya was already at the dinner table, downing a cup of sake. "He takes after his father, after all."

xXx

Hana gazed at her reflection in the bathroom mirror, one hand pulling a flat-iron slowly down a clump of her dark hair. She could hear Sora shuffling about in her bedroom, doing her own preparations for the night, no doubt trying to be ready by the time the boys arrived. Hana herself knew that they were pressed for time, but she wasn't going to risk burning her hand again just because they were ten minutes behind. A quick flip of the hem of her bathrobe revealed some legs that needed shaving, which, she gathered, would take up a few more minutes of their time.

"You doing all right, Sora?" she shouted, one hand mindlessly rummaging through bathroom drawers for a razor while the other kept hold of the hair iron. Originally, Sora was going to get ready at her own house, but, after calling Hana asking what was appropriate to wear for their night out, Hana decided to invite her over so that they could help each other get ready.

"Yeah," Sora called back, not sounding very convinced. "I'm just second-guessing the skirt… again."

Hana popped out of the bathroom and knocked gently on her bedroom door for permission to enter before receiving it.

"If you change your mind again, Sora," she said, leaning against the doorjamb and waving a razor around, "you're going to be thinking about it all night. The skirt looks great. Hot, in fact. Go for it."

"Easy for you to say," Sora teased. "You're not dressing to impress anyone."

"That's not entirely true," Hana defended, grinning wickedly afterwards. "I'd be lying if there isn't a part of me that revels in making boys drool."

"Huh," said Sora, amused. She raised an eyebrow. "The only other guy coming with us is Tai, Hana. Don't tell me you want to impress _him._ Plus, what would Ryo think about that?"

Sora was trying very hard to mention Tai as much as possible in all of the conversations she had with Hana. Ryo had, after all, told her a few things he learned about the human subconscious. The more something seemingly minor was mentioned, the more the mind would register that such an object did, in fact, merit closer examination.

"Nothing, I hope," Hana replied. "He's not the jealous type. If anything, I think he'd see it as a good sign. I picture him saying something along the lines of, 'It's good for a girl to remind herself that she is, in fact, female, and as such, biologically makes heterosexual men's necks snap as she walks by.' And Tai? I'm not trying to impress him, no. I doubt he'd find me or my attire very sexy."

Sora was tempted to sputter a "You're kidding, right?" but held her tongue, opting for a harmless chuckle instead.

"Besides," Hana added, with a wink. "_I'm_ not the one wearing the mini skirt."

"_That_ top," Sora countered, pointing at the piece of clothing on a hanger, "might suggest otherwise. You _want_ to make necks snap, Hana. Tai's included."

The doorbell buzzed then, and both girls, like alerted deer, flew straight back to what they were doing previously. Hana shut her bedroom door to give Sora some privacy and rushed to the front door, unlocking it to find exactly who she was expecting.

"Come in," she greeted, beckoning Matt and Tai inside. She got a good flood of cold, late autumn air, the frigid wind briefly sending goosebumps rising up her bare legs. "Neither Sora nor I are, obviously, ready." She sniffed slightly, getting a surprisingly pleasant whiff of cologne off the two young men. The thought of Tai wearing cologne for a night made her smile unconsciously.

"Just make yourselves at home. Ren's running late, anyway."

She showed them to the living room before disappearing in the bathroom again. The boys sat in relative silence while they waited, having exhausted all conversation topics on the way to Hana's apartment. Tai in particular wasn't feeling like talking, especially since the last time he opened his big mouth to discuss their upcoming night out, Matt graciously reminded him that he couldn't dance to save his life.

"And what?" Tai retorted. "You think you're a rock star with spot-on stage moves?"

_Well, yeah,_ thought Ishida.

"I don't really plan on dancing much," Matt answered. "If Hana says there's a lounge area, I'm going to take advantage of it."

"And sit all night?"

"Precisely."

It suddenly struck Matt that Mr. Kurosawa hadn't come out of hiding to greet them, making him wonder if Hana's father was even home. He pointed the fact out to Tai, who was just as surprised to find that Mr. Kurosawa was not present in the house.

They received their answer soon enough when both girls finally emerged, dressed and ready, minus the shoes. Upon seeing Sora, Matt had trouble standing, and he teetered on the balls of his feet, dumbfounded for a few seconds before he realized that he should have come up to greet her.

"I know, right?" Hana said, reading Matt's reaction with glee. "She's stunning! Told you the skirt was the right way to go."

"You don't think it's too much, do you?" Sora asked, more to Matt than anyone else. She was, after all, looking straight at him.

"N-No, not at all," he said, looking south at her legs. She might have been wearing a miniskirt, but she was still smart enough to wear tights in the cold weather. He smiled. "You look great—more than usual, that is. You always look great."

"Right." Tai curtly reminded them all that they were still waiting on their ride. "So… is Ren coming soon or not?"

"She just messaged me. She's on her way," said Hana. "There's nothing wrong with taking a moment before partying the night away, Tai."

"I hate waiting," he muttered.

"Oh, please. She's a girl. She needs to get dolled up and all pretty for you guys."

"Oh?" he countered. "Who are you trying to impress with your boyfriend miles and miles away?" As much as he tried to check the urge, Tai was unable to keep himself from furtively looking over what Hana was wearing. Compared to Sora, Hana was dressed shockingly blandly: skinny, grey jeans and a thin pink pullover.

"No one. Why do you think I'm dressed like I'm going to the grocery store?"

Before their conversation was steered deep into flirting territory, Matt politely interrupted them by raising the question of where Hana's father was.

"My dad's having dinner with some other professors," she answered. "I told him I was going to dinner and the club later with Ren and you guys, so he knows what to expect from me tonight."

"You told your dad the _truth_?" Tai gawped.

"Yeah. I know. The _smart_ thing to do would be to lie to him, but my dad can see through my lies as if he had x-ray vision." She shrugged. "Besides," she continued, giving Tai a wink, "this wouldn't be the first time I went—underage—to a nightclub."

"Work hard, party hard philosophy, I'm guessing?"

"Exactly. Am I wrong to assume you share a similar one?"

Tai held his hand out to her, palm flat and facing upwards.

"Nope," he said, feeling her own hand slap against his in acknowledgment of the fact. For a brief second, he was tempted to catch her fingers and hold onto them, but he had to be satisfied with the high-five.

Her phone buzzed then, signaling Ren's arrival. The four of them met her by the entrance to the apartment building, her tall, lithe body leaning against the shotgun door of her car. The first thing any of the teens noticed about her was the abundance of leg—long, lean legs in sheer black stockings and scarlet stilettos.

"Where's Emi?" asked Hana.

"She got a cold, damn her," Ren replied, pulling her red coat tighter around her. "Nakamura has a strict sickness protocol. At the first signs, you drop everything and go to bed. Sucks, really, but it's what you do if you want the production to run smoothly." She flicked her dark eyes at Hana's friends, grinning broadly, the breath leaving her turning into mist in the dark, cold air. "And look at you guys. I see an award for this night's best-dressed couple and…" She looked Tai over. "You just want to be comfortable when you party like a rockstar, don't you?"

"_I_ sure do," said Hana, speaking on Tai's behalf.

"I can tell. Oh, Hana. Jeans? Really? You have great legs. You should have shown them off, make some guys drool at the sight of you."

Hana rolled her eyes.

"All right, fine, Miss Prude," Ren said in reply to Hana's sass. "Get your ass in the car."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Oh, don't make me feel like a grandma." Ren walked around the car to the driver's seat, her pumps clicking against the pavement. "I'm already your freaking chauffeur for the night, which means I can't get totally wasted." Once settled into the driver's seat, Ren leaned over, calling Tai.

"Hey, Kamiya! Take shotgun. I'll look like a hot cougar taking my high school boy toy out to get trashed."

"You enjoy screwing with people's minds?" he said, begrudgingly obeying the command and sitting himself in the shotgun seat.

"Yeah. I enjoy it. I also enjoy actually screwing people," Ren replied bluntly, teasing Tai with a flirty wink. Tai reddened and shrank in his seat. "Oh, relax, you." Ren turned around to look at Sora, Matt, and Hana, who had seated themselves comfortably in the back. "We really need to get this boy a girlfriend," she said, jerking her thumb over at Tai.

"You and the rest of the world," chuckled Matt.

"Well, the club's a nice place to start, so let's get this night moving." Ren slid the key into the ignition slot and started the engine, laying a hand on the gearshift and speeding them out of the residential area and into the neon-heart of the city.

They rendezvoused with some other dancers whom at the restaurant where they would eat dinner, and Tai, Matt and Sora were hurriedly introduced to Hana's colleagues, her dancing partner included.

"A pleasure to meet you three," said Max, revealing his accent. He shook each of the teens' hands, ignoring the raised eyebrows on their faces.

"Max is from England," Hana informed them.

"Oh," said Sora. "What brought you to Japan?"

Max scratched an itch in his dark hair.

"I wasn't good enough for the Royal Ballet, and I figured any other pretentious company in Europe would reject me all the same. Thought Japan would be a good place to start before I break a leg or something."

"Yeah, right," Ren intruded, overhearing their conversation. "Max is a fat liar. He's damn good, and Nakamura is making him dance with the corps for his first year here because it's 'the rules.' He should be a soloist, in my opinion."

"Says the lass who is now a soloist," Max retorted smartly.

Ren snorted.

"Oh, you know I just want you by me always, Max," she teased.

"You're such a kiss-ass."

"By your third round of drinks, we'll see who's kissing ass."

In an aside to Hana and her friends, Ren said, "Max doesn't hold his liquor well. I know, doesn't fit a guy with the type of muscle he carries, but it's true. He was totally out of it the first time he had a sake bomb."

Dinner went surprisingly smoothly despite the two different environments and age groups seated at the table. Hana acted as a median between the two, balancing the two distinct worlds of high school and ballet. Occasionally, conversations would be subject specific, and sometimes the high schoolers would be left out simply because they didn't know what to contribute, and vice versa.

Hana was hoping to remain excluded from one such conversation, which was about the more _intimate _side of dating, but Ren snared her into it by bringing up Ryo.

"So how's Mr. Big Man on Campus doing, Kurosawa?" she asked. "He able to fit you into his tight schedule?"

"Or is it the other way around?" Max added, smiling goofily. "Are _you_ having trouble fitting _him_ into your _tight_ schedule?" Ren was certainly right when she said that Max was a lightweight when it came to alcohol.

"Um, we've spoken recently, if that's what you're asking," Hana replied, feeling her neck flare up.

"God, you two talk more than my grandparents do about politics," groaned Ren. "Don't you two do anything other than talk?"

"Well, yes—"

Ren cut her off.

"Touch and go, huh? I mean, he only sees you in person every so often, so what happens must be like a flash of lightning."

Tai choked on his drink when he heard Ren utter the bold comment. Sora's fork dropped from her grasp and clattered to the floor, and the piece of steak Matt had been eating was promptly spit out into his napkin.

Hana felt embarrassment flooding her entire body, covering her head to toe in a brilliant shade of red.

"Um, no," she said meekly, her hands wanting to reach out for her drink but contenting themselves with wringing the napkin on her lap to shreds. "We don't… We haven't…"

"Why not? Does Ryo not have the balls?" asked Ren.

Max snickered, sniffing affectedly afterwards.

"If I recall correctly," he said, "Ryo certainly had a pair, coming backstage like a freaking maharajah during our Australia tour. The bloke acted as if he owned the theatre itself."

"Damn right," said Ren, swirling the wine in her glass. "When he popped right into the dressing room asking for me and Emi, I was like, 'Who the hell does this kid think he is walking into a room full of half-naked women making demands?' Then he told me who the freaking prima ballerina that popped him out of her baby-maker was and I turned into his obedient servant." She chewed on a manicured fingernail for a moment before turning to Hana. "Your boyfriend is… _something_, Hana. You aren't even the least bit suspicious of what he's doing while he's in Kyoto?"

Hana chuckled, a bit uneasily.

"Every girl in a relationship has her doubts, Ren," she said. "But I trust Ryo. I've known him my entire life. He's my best friend. I don't think he'd do anything to hurt me. I mean, it's why we haven't… _you know_… I told him I'm not ready and he leaves it at that."

_Or he just leaves_, Hana added inwardly.

Silence befell the dinner table as Max and Ren exchanged looks, the former grimacing, and the latter sucking at her teeth.

"Well," said Max, leaning back in his chair and stretching. "I think I'm all filled up on talk about Ryo Hiraki. How about we all get some dessert, hmm?"

"Couldn't have agreed more," said Ren. She shifted in her chair and waved at their waiter.

Hana, too, was glad for the subject change but could still feel the awkwardness of the entire topic tingling in her body. Out of a nervous reflex, she seized Ren's wineglass when she wasn't looking and quickly downed the entire contents, catching, too late, Tai looking at her from the side.

She waited for him to scold her, a bitter retort already prepped on her lips, but he merely smiled and leaned back in his chair.

"Pre-gaming?" he said. "That's usually not done alone."

A corner of Hana's mouth flicked upwards.

"Well, Ren can't drink too much anyway. She's driving. Care to join me?"

"Sure, Han," he said, reaching for the wine bottle in the middle of the table and pouring both him and Hana another glass. "But I'm telling you now, you won't be able to keep up."

"Pfft, Tai, I'm French," she said, watching him empty the glass. "You don't know what it's like to revel at our pace."

"And _I'm_ one hundred percent Japanese, Hana. I guess I'll have to show you how we party here."

"Really?" Hana replied dubiously. "Because if I recall correctly…" She tapped a finger on her chin. "…Matt said something about you not knowing how to dance…"

xXx

The floor felt as though it were swaying beneath her feet as she elbowed her way through the gyrating crowd, the flashes of the multicolored strobe lights in the club's misted dimness disorienting her further. Whenever she made contact with a body in her way, she was reminded of the intensity of the heat created in such an atmosphere, her bare arm damp and sticking briefly to any exposed skin on the clueless club-goers.

It had somehow escaped her recent memory of where Ren, Max and the other dancers said they would be on the dance floor, and a part of Hana didn't care to remember. The other part, however, was telling her that she was, currently, swimming solo in the sea of pumping fists and swaying hips., the air aswirl with the smell of smoke and spirits.

She wiped a few strands of hair that had stuck to her forehead, blowing a breath up through her bottom lip to dry the sweat crowning her brow. The air hitting her forehead brought little relief from the heat, and Hana, deciding to postpone her current mission, stopped where she was and doffed the pink sweater she had worn over a more appropriate (or, to parents, inappropriate) top for a night on the town.

Rolling the pullover up and tucking it under an arm, Hana resumed her trek to the far end of the dance floor, elbow purposely jutting out to help her plough through the throng.

"Finally," she said to herself, reaching her destination and giving a slight hoot of victory. She caught the attention of the disc jockey she had originally sought out and had to shout her song request four times before he finally understood her.

"Interesting choice," replied the DJ. "Not many people here have heard of that song yet. But you'll have to wait for your song. I've other requests queued up."

"That's fine," said Hana, already vacating the area. "I'm going to get a drink anyway."

She plunged back into the pulsing mess that was her present idea of stress-relief and nudged and shoved her way through to get to the bar, her throat seemingly getting more parched the closer she got to her desired location. She was happy to see that he whom she had abandoned at the bar was still exactly where she had left him, though he seemed to be chatting with (or being chatted _up_ by) a few tipsy girls.

"Hey, Kamiya!" Hana yelled in greeting, sidling up to Tai at the bar and giving him a poke in the ribs. Her sudden appearance by his side sent the girls who were previously in his company leaving reluctantly, their noses scrunched up in distaste for the girl who had so rudely interrupted them.

Tai turned around, a ready smile on his face, only for it to drop into an open jaw at the mere sight of Hana—and the top she had been hiding beneath her pink pullover.

"Jeez. What is that you're wearing? A rag?" A jeer happened to be the only way he could express himself without saying outright that she was making it very hard for him to keep his hands to himself.

"… Yes," Hana said slowly, her eyes squinting at him. "Because a rag like this doesn't cost eighty-five Euros."

"You wasted your money then."

He said it while admiring the smooth skin of her nearly entirely bare back, millimeters of flesh covered up by some ties that held everything together. He wondered what it would be like to slip a hand beneath those strings and to run it up the curve of her spine.

"Well, I figure this _rag_ has done its job if it makes a few heads turn, which…" She looked up at him, smirking, "… I think it has."

Tai blushed hotly, making Hana laugh and pinch him lightly on the arm.

"Anyway," she said, "I asked the DJ if he would play a song for me, and he's agreed to play it in a bit. So… whenever you're ready to go out on the dance floor…" She pilfered the drink he had left unattended on the bar counter, expertly chugging its contents down.

"I'm ready now, Han," Tai replied.

"Okay. Let me stop by our booth to put my sweater away. You want to wait here or…?"

Tai thought a moment.

"I'll go with you," he decided.

It was Tai's turn to push through the feverish, spasmodic crowd, Hana trailing behind him in the clear wake he left for her. She had made means of edging them through to their booth, but Tai had more dignity than that and wouldn't let her do what he believed was his job. He was, in a sense, her escort for the time being—and if not an escort, then the closest thing she had to a chivalrous boyfriend.

His head was beginning to feel slightly heavy on his neck, the effects of the alcohol he had downed earlier finally starting to addle his brain. Once they had arrived at the club, Ren had bought them a round of shots, and then she bought them a few bottles of vodka, and then a few of sake, simply because Hana had never tried Japan's world famous plum wine. She was then goaded to try her first sake bomb, and since she expressed reluctance completing the dare if no one would do it with her, Tai stepped up and offered to chug one down with her. It wouldn't be the first time he had had a sake bomb, a fact which raised many eyebrows round their group.

"Ho, ho, Kamiya," crowed Ren. "Do I need to call Alcoholics Anonymous? Where the hell'd you get a sake bomb at your age?"

"Six words, Ren," he said, "End of the soccer season party."

The memory of that party flashed in his mind briefly, bringing up images of outrageous drinking and him nearly chipping his tooth while he vomited into his teammate's toilet.

"My tolerance has since gotten better," he said, after he told them the anecdote about his post-season revelry.

"I sure hope so," said Ren. "I don't want you blowing chunks in my car."

Hana's first attempt at swallowing a sake bomb proved not only embarrassing, but painful. She couldn't take the combination of beer and sake flooding her throat, and so she choked, spit half of it up, while the rest somehow got snorted up her nose, making her sinuses burn from the flux of alcohol. Tai and the others had laughed boisterously at her, though the former was sure to add in a bit of comfort to the jeering. He had put an arm around her and hugged her, saying into her hair, "This _would_ happen to you, Han."

If he kissed her head then, he couldn't remember doing it, but he was left with the impression that a line had been crossed. His jolly drinking had muddled his short term memory. Sometimes he would catch himself doing something he hadn't anticipated doing, such as tickling her in the side while they danced; or, after being separated from her for a time on the dance floor, tackling her from behind with a hug, arms wrapping around her shoulders and the side of his face grazing her cheek.

"So what song did you ask the DJ to play?" he shouted at her, turning around momentarily as he shoved aside someone who was in his way. They were almost to their booth in the lounge area.

"I don't know if you'd know it, Taichi," she replied. He didn't know that she was holding onto his shirt, using him as an anchor in the sea of people. "It's European."

He laughed.

"You and your Europop."

The chortle in his throat and his steps came to a full halt when he got sight of their booth. Hana, who had been looking at the floor the entire time to keep her mind from spinning, bumped into him from behind.

"What's the matter?" she asked into his back. She could smell an odd mix of his sweat and cologne, which she found oddly intoxicating.

"Uh…" He grimaced as he searched for the right words to describe the situation. "… Matt and Sora are…"

Fed up with his inarticulateness, Hana peeked at their booth from behind him, her hands unconsciously setting themselves at his sides. What she saw was a prime view of Matt and Sora kissing the night away. She whistled.

"So that's why he kept asking about the lounge area," she remarked, clearly not as uncomfortable over the sight as Tai was.

"We should go," he said to her, already turning around to dive back into the crowd and slipping out of Hana's grasp.

"But I need to put my sweater away."

"Really? You're going to go up to…" He pointed at Matt and Sora. "… to _that_?"

Hana giggled.

"With the way things look, they won't even notice I stopped by. I'll be quick, then we can go back."

"Hana—"

She was gone before he could even request she leave them alone, and he couldn't help but watch her to make sure she didn't disturb the snogging couple—as much as it made him want to vomit. He had never seen Matt and Sora kiss—at least not like that—likely because both knew that were he to witness it, he'd only get nauseous or angry. But they assumed privacy in the dim light, the dark flashes of the strobes, the veil of cigarette smoke, and they weren't counting on Tai catching them, and neither was he.

"You all right?"

Hana had returned and noticed the furrows in Tai's brow. She touched him gently on the arm.

"You all right?" she repeated, since he didn't seem to have heard her the first time.

"Yeah, yeah," he murmured. "I'm going to go outside to get some fresh air. It's like a jungle in here."

"I'll go with you."

"No, it's all right. Go dance to your song."

"By myself?"

"Find Ren or Max."

"Tai."

He evaded the arm she outstretched to pull him back, having already pushed himself into the crowd that throbbed to blasting rhythms like a giant heartbeat. The more his feet trod on, the more he felt like people were becoming walls, and he realized, based on the reactions coming from the people he squeezed past, that his shoves were increasing in force. He even made a girl spill her drink all over herself. He didn't apologize. When the crowd began to thin, Tai knew he was reaching sanctuary. Dancers were replaced with people straining to have conversations.

With one final push, he swung open a door leading outside into some neighboring alley, the bitter autumn air hitting him like a refreshing spring breeze. He didn't happen to be the only person outside. There were a few others, those of which seemed in worse mental states than he was. One girl was openly sobbing on the cold dank floor, her friends creating a partial wall around her.

Tai looked away and leaned his arm against the cold brick of the club building, his forehead resting against his forearm as he tried to erase the image that had been so recently burned into his retinas. Matt and Sora kissing. Matt's hand on Sora's leg. Sora's fingers weaving through Matt's hair.

He suppressed the urge to vomit but in doing so only emitted a low growl from the back of his throat. It could have been him. _He_ could have been the one giving the affection if he hadn't botched everything up with Sora. It could have been him, it _should_ have been him, but he wasn't the one Sora picked in the end. He wasn't the one locking lips with her. What he _was_ was the slightly drunk teenager brooding alone outside a club, hands empty of everything except for lint clumps of disappointment.

His ears buzzed with the remnants of the dizzying club music pounding against the walls. Even though he was outside, he could still feel the vibrations of the bass through the arm he had against the brick siding. He stuck a finger in one of his ears to poke the hum out and to clear his head, but he just kept thinking about what he had seen. What he couldn't understand, however, was why mulling over Matt and Sora made him instantly think of Hana. It didn't make sense. How could he be associating something as painful as seeing his best friend making out with his former girlfriend to the perky, petite ballerina who sent heat rushing to every fiber of his body when he saw her? His fist clenched unconsciously, and he was prepared to turn around and kick uselessly at the alley pavement when his violent form of stress-relief was postponed indefinitely.

"You going to hang out here all night, Kamiya?"

Tai lifted his head immediately, his brown eyes veering directly to his left to catch sight of Hana, her bare shoulder leaning against the rough, worn brick of the building.

"No. Just clearing my head," he answered, slowly sticking his forehead back to his forearm. His tightened fingers relaxed, and the former fist became a limp hand.

"That just might take all night, you know," Hana teased. "Your head is pretty big."

He ignored the joke.

"You followed me?"

"It wasn't difficult. All I had to do was follow the moving puff of brown hair. Even for someone as short as I am, your head was like a lit beacon in the dark."

"Thanks," he muttered. He couldn't even have hair like Matt's. The kind that styled nicely and induced girls to run their hands through it lest they become reduced to puddles of desire.

"If it bothers you so much," Hana began, knowing full well what Tai was worrying about, "why don't you let them know?"

"And what?" he said bitterly. "Break them up just because Sora and I dated when we barely understood anything about relationships? I'll admit I'm selfish, Hana. But I won't do that to Sora. Or Matt."

Hana studied him for a moment, hugging herself a bit as the frigid night air began to raise goosebumps on her exposed skin.

"So you're just going to… what? Keep it all bottled up?"

He stopped leaning against the wall and turned to face her, suddenly taking notice of her faint trembling.

"Yeah," he said. He sighed afterwards, scrubbing any doubt out of his head with a swift pass of a hand through his so-called big hair. "Until I find someone who takes my mind off it completely."

"I really hope you don't have to wait much longer," she replied earnestly, smiling at him.

"Why's that?"

He still sounded annoyed. Hana shrugged.

"I don't know," she replied, pensively. "Sometimes the things you say and do, Tai. It makes me wonder why… why you don't have a girlfriend. I know a lot of people have said you say the wrong thing at the wrong time, and I've experienced that firsthand, but then other times you…" She laughed cheaply. "I don't know. You just… You… Well…"

"You're so articulate, Han."

She raised a hand to swat him gently, but after a second thought, put it back down.

"It's the alcohol talking," she defended, uselessly. "I…" Language was apparently a difficult thing to master that night, and so, also, was eye contact. She crossed her arms, running a hand over the cold skin of her arm as she switched her green gaze away from Tai, taking interest in the rough grooves of mortar and brick.

"You're a good friend, Tai," she said at length. "You've… you've been good to me. It's been hard sometimes, you know, with Ryo not being able to be around so much and my dad being occupied with work… and, you know, general loneliness with my mom not..." She cleared her throat. "…_around_. I… appreciate what you've done for me. And, well, I appreciate you, too, in general. I didn't think I'd have a friend like you when I moved here, and I'm glad for it."

_I could be more than that, Hana_, he wanted to say, but the words got jammed up against his teeth at the last second, and his shut lips would not risk unveiling what was probably the result of too many swigs of sake.

"Well, I'm being a pretty sucky friend right now, Han," he managed to say, the truth once again getting shoved down his throat.

"Oh?"

Before she could guess his reply, he pulled her towards himself, his hold on her wrist firm but gentle, confident in its intent, but not demanding. She was almost afraid of making contact with his body, her own frame hunching a bit when he closed the space between them. She was expecting to bump into him at some awkward place, like against the hip, but she happened to slide perfectly beside him, everything about the move he had done seemingly calculated with care—and if not care, then damned good luck. He promptly wrapped an arm around her shoulders and gave her icy arms a bit of a rub. He was warm, she could feel it, but the sensation of his fingertips grazing against her bare flesh sent cool tremors into her bones. She shuddered.

"We need to get you back inside before you turn into a popsicle—no thanks to that rag you're wearing. What were you thinking coming outside in that?"

He escorted her back into the club, and Hana was sorely tempted to rest her head against his shoulder, but she shook the thought away. It was the alcohol thinking.

"Suffice it to say, Taichi," she said, "I don't go chasing boys much. So count yourself lucky that I care about you enough to do that."  
>Tai chuckled.<p>

"I'll take that. Now… let's see what we can do about that Europop request of yours…"


	24. Twenty-Four

xXx

TWENTY-FOUR

xXx

**S**he studied the back of his head with eyes peering to a tight squint, her lips pursed slightly and the butt of a pen hovering a few inches away from his scalp, tracing over a visible mark. The indistinct murmur of lunch time conversation clogged her ears, all sound being muffled into insignificance by her focus on a spot on the back of Tai's head.

The temptation to poke it became too overwhelming, and without thinking, Hana tapped the end of her pen against it—gently—but hard enough to have Tai spin around from his conversation with Matt, his hand swiftly rising to protect the tender flesh.

"What are you doing, Hana?" he groaned, rubbing the slight pain from his sore.

"Sorry, Kamiya," she replied sheepishly, putting her pen down. "I just… I just don't know _how_ you—"

"Didn't I tell you how I got this gash?"

"Well, yes, but I still don't understand—"

Tai scowled and turned away from her, deciding to face forward in his seat, both of his hands clasped over the upper nape of his neck and the lower part of his scalp. The injury that Hana appeared so fascinated by was the direct result of his carelessness on Friday night when he went to the club with her. Based on the versions told to him by his sister and parents, he had apparently arrived home from his up-to-dawn revelry irreversibly trashed. Matt and Sora, who had had, perhaps, one drink each, and Hana, who had had a plentiful share but was still standing on two feet, had been recruited to help him inside his apartment.

Unfortunately, the timbre of his body as his three friends supported him inclined heavily towards Hana, who was in no condition to bear the majority of his weight—especially in her own inebriated state of mind. She lost balance and tripped, he fell over her, hit the back of his head against the edge of a hallway table, and promptly lost consciousness. The next thing he knew, he was waking up with half his face pressed into a hospital pillow, a doctor in the process of sewing up the deep gash ripped into his scalp. The pain was registered only several minutes later, when his mother came to check on him and heard him swearing like a sailor.

Moreover, the medical staff had had to shave off the hair surrounding the wound, and so he now had a naked patch of scalp visible to the rest of the world but hidden from his own eyes. That Hana stared at the cut as if he had some alien growing out of his brain made him all the more miserably self-conscious.

"Maybe it's a sign that you should get yourself a haircut," Hana teased.

"I am _not_ cutting my hair, Han," he growled, glancing at her from the side. She hadn't been the first to make the suggestion. Kaito had snidely commented on his injury, and if Hana hadn't been with Tai to stop him from throwing a swing at the basketball captain, he was certain he wouldn't be the only one with a visible blow to the head.

"Oh, stop being so grumpy," she chided. "Besides, you forget that _you_ fell on top of _me_ and bruised my freaking hip, you giant."

To jog his memory, she lifted the hem of her uniform shirt slightly, showing enough of her partially purpled torso to her aching ally.

"You try doing ballet with a bruised hip," she challenged. "We'll see how that goes."

"It doesn't even look that bad." It was his turn to poke her.

"Ow!"

"Now we're even."

He turned around to answer a question Matt had asked him, and Hana was left to stare at the injury on the back of his head, wondering why she felt a tad upset that he didn't continue talking with her.

She had forgotten how good company he was since she had basically rid him and the rest of her school friends out of her life at the start of the winter ballet season. That Friday night had been the first time she'd eaten out with him in weeks, and, judging by how little she could bring to their lunch table in the form of conversation topics, Hana knew that she was falling out of touch with her friends.

A part of her had been hoping to catch up with them that Friday night, but the drinking and the dancing brought all meaningful conversation to a halt—except, perhaps, the one heart-to-heart that she had with Tai. And even so, Hana felt that some of the things she had said to him were the result of the alcohol coursing through her veins.

"I was thinking we could all study together some time this week," she suggested, when she found an opening to introduce a new topic. "I actually have a weekday free. Nakamura will be discussing stage set up and costumes on Wednesday, so practice will be on our own."

"Can't do, Hana," said Matt, too quickly for her comfort. "My band and I are trying to be at our best when we go to Kyoto University a few weeks from now. Ryo got our band in their concert series, so we want to impress."

"Understandable," said Hana, her heart dropping a little. "Sora? Izzy? Tai? How about you guys?"

Sora pretended to think for a moment. She really had nothing to do that day since her tennis season was over, but if Tai ended up joining Hana, she wasn't going to intervene on what could be a deciding moment in their friendship. When she felt Matt's foot nudge her leg under the table, she spit out an answer.

"I can't make it that day, either, Hana. Sorry. My mom's doing flower arrangements for a wedding and she needs all the help she can get."

"Oh. Sure." Hana was beginning to think asking was a stupid idea. She suddenly felt very detached from the people sitting around her, as if they had all turned into complete strangers.

"Izzy?"

He didn't have to look at Sora and Matt to get the hint.

"Uh… my mom, uh, wants me to stay home and help her rearrange the… ah… guestroom."

Matt was hardly impressed with the excuse.

"Really, Koushiro?" he mouthed silently. Izzy could only shrug, mouthing back, "It's not a _lie_," when Hana wasn't looking.

"Oh. No doubt for Mimi, right?" Hana asked, a merry glint in her eye.

"Um…" Izzy fumbled. "N-No. Who ever said anything about Mi—"

"S_uuure_."

Hana turned to her last option.

"How about you, Tai?"

He decided to keep her in anticipation.

"I don't know, Hana," he said after an agonizing pause. "We don't exactly have the same classes, so I don't know if it's a good idea for us to study together."

"It's actually an excellent idea," Izzy explained, much to Tai's chagrin. "Since you two don't share any classes, you are less likely to group study, and thus, to go off tangent."

"Well, who can argue with that?"

Tai gave in, even though he knew his friends had all declined simply for the purpose of forcing him into Hana's company. He stretched his arms and yawned.

"Man, with all the studying I'll be getting done, I'd better do well on my exams."

"The day you do well on all of your exams will be the day the world ends," Hana joked.

"Ha, ha. Keep it up and you'll be studying alone."

Hana instinctively swatted him upside the head, completely forgetting that he had stitches back there. She didn't hit him that hard, but contact with her hand still made him yelp with pain.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she mumbled, wincing when her apology did little to lessen Tai's glare. Her fingers flexed nervously a few times before she went ahead and gently patted him on the back of the head. "Do you want me to get ice? I'll get ice."

"Hana, it's fine. Just stop touching it."

"Because I will, you know, get ice. I'll go get it right n—"

"_Hana_."

He stayed her panicky hands by grabbing them with his own and slowly setting them back towards her person.

"I'm fine," he insisted. "I'm only messing with you."

Hana breathed easier, though one sigh of relief was shortened when she realized that he was still gripping her fingers. Tai noticed and instantly released her, as if he were suddenly aware that the hands he was holding were, in fact, tentacles.

He smiled awkwardly afterwards, turning away from her again to face Matt. He noticed, out of the corner of his eye, Hana picking up her chopsticks to begin eating her lunch, her attentions now turned to Sora. Tai continued to stare a moment longer until Matt's tap on his shoulder drew him away, and throughout their entire conversation, he could hardly concentrate. He just kept thinking about Hana and her cold white hands and how badly—terribly—they were shaking when he finally remembered to let her go.

xXx

Hana sat, alone, on the front steps of the dance academy, her pale face made paler by the blue glow of the cell phone in her palm. Her thumb clicked methodically down her list of messages, an absentminded task she allowed herself to do only when she wanted to avoid looking lonely and helpless in public.

Exhaling, she clasped her phone shut, checking the time once more before stuffing it into her coat pocket. Her breath escaped her in a stream of grey mist, reminding her just how frigid the night air was. She hugged herself closer, stomping her feet a bit to keep the blood flow going lest she freeze over. Ren had told her to wait inside for Tai, but she knew that if she stayed longer in the studio, she'd be tempted to continue ballet, and, at present, her studies needed some desperate attention.

She sniffed and was in the middle of wiping her nose on her sleeve when her phone buzzed.

_Going to be a bit late_, it said. She sighed and wiped her nose again before willing her cold fingers to text a reply.

"You've never been late, Taichi," she murmured to herself while sending him her quaint, "_All right. Thanks for letting me know_."

He kept her waiting a full twenty minutes before finally showing up, Hana noticing some sweat on his brow. She figured that he must have run all the way from the metro station, and if he hadn't, she wanted to think that he had.

"Sorry," he said in greeting, adjusting the bookbag he had slung over his shoulder. Hana waited for him to say more, hoping that he would give her a valid reason for his tardiness. He didn't. "You said university library, right? Are they going to be open for much longer? It's almost eight o'clock."

"They're open until two in the morning," Hana clarified stiffly, standing and putting on her backpack before picking up her ballet duffel. To Tai, she seemed to be carrying so much for so small a person that she looked like a homeless street kid.

"You want me to get that?" he offered, beckoning for her pink duffel.

"It's fine," she said. "Nothing but ballet shoes and leotards in here. They aren't heavy."

"Well, sure, but you've been practicing all day. Aren't you tired?"

"No. I have too much to do to be tired right now, Tai."

"Suit yourself, though I don't know why you're being so grumpy."

He heard her snort subtly at the comment, but she refused to comment further.

"See? That's what I don't get. Girls are always like, 'Chivalry is dead. Blah, blah. And when a guy finally chooses to be chivalrous, you get all Miss Independent on him!"

"I'm not," she muttered, glaring at him. "You've already gone out of your way to accompany me to the library since my dad's away for the week and doesn't want me traipsing about Tokyo after hours by myself. I don't need you to do any more for me."

"Well, if you put it that way, maybe a 'Thank you' would be nice."

He saw her lips curl upwards into a snarl but never received her retort. Instead, her face softened and she quickened her steps, increasing the space between them. When her pace had slowed and her posture wasn't so erect, she reached out and touched his elbow.

"I'm sorry," she said softly. "Practice was tough and long, I miss my dad who's been gone all week at a conference. Ryo is taking eons to get back to me about coming here to keep me company until my dad comes home. And, well, you know how my schoolwork is coming along." She groaned and rubbed her face with a hand.

"So… you're stressed?"

"To say the least," she said.

"Then take a break."

"From what? My life? And how do you suppose I do that, Taichi? Just go into a coma for a few days?"

He raised an eyebrow at her.

"The world's not going to end if you just have a few hours to yourself. To me, it just seems like you need some sleep."

Hana frowned—not at the comment—but at herself.

"I take it I look like a genuine zombie?"

"More like a vampire."

"Gee. _So_ much better," she said dully.

Tai laughed and gave her a pat on the back.

"I hope we can find that lounge area again," he said, going off on a different tangent. "I miss that couch."

By the time they reached the library itself, Hana's lips were almost blue from the cold. She let Tai go ahead to find themselves a study spot while she went off to get a hot drink from a vending machine in the library's café.

"Text me when you find a spot," she told him. "But you might have to be creative."

The latter words of advice stuck with Tai as he began the slow process of finding a vacant space in the library during crunch time for many university students. He was briefly glad that he was still in high school, with plenty of time before he was placed in a similar position. Perhaps this was the reason why Ryo had canceled any plans he had made with Hana. Maybe he, too, was too swamped with schoolwork to pay a visit to his girlfriend. Or, Tai liked to think, he was just up to no good.

It came as no surprise to him that the lounge space he had been betting on was taken, and he walked up a few more floors before he finally found a study spot. It was backed up in a cold, poorly lit corner, behind a lot of book shelves. There weren't the comfortable furnishings of sofa and armchair. Just a small, wooden table with some wheeled, plastic chairs. It was perfect for anyone who wanted privacy and chilling darkness, but it would have to do for the meantime. Plus, he caught sight of another group of students eyeing it from afar, so he quickly claimed the area by throwing his bookbag onto the tabletop. It caused enough noise to make him hated by his neighbors for the rest of the night.

"No couch for you?" Hana said as she approached, setting a foam cup of hot chocolate by him. She took the seat opposite him, dumping her backpack and duffel bag onto the ground with an 'Oof!' before taking a sip from her own beverage.

"Nope. It was taken. Though, if it frees up, I might just claim it for a quick nap." He yawned for effect before slurping at the drink Hana had gotten him.

"I wish I could join you."

Tai's eyebrows raised considerably as he looked at Hana over the lid of his cup.

"N-Not, you know, actually together with you on the couch," Hana explained, nervously. "I meant, I wish I could join you in _taking a nap_… in general."

"Yeah, I knew what you meant."

Tai looked down. Yes, he knew what she meant, but that didn't mean that he didn't imagine the two of them sleeping on that couch.

"So what do you have on your plate tonight?" he asked, trying to resume more normal conversation.

"Literature, Math, and History, for the most part. And maybe I'll try to make sense of Computer Science, but without Izzy or my Dad around, it's kind of impossible. How about you?"

"Science, mostly. And some History, too."

They postponed any further chatting by being good students and actually studying, though Tai occasionally found himself glancing at the girl seated before him, wondering, considering the environment, her stress level, and the possibility of an audience, if he should confess some very important information to her. To think about it and to get carried away thinking about it only made him sleepy, and more than once he felt his head lower and his eyelids grow heavy.

He was startled by one such power nap when Hana got up abruptly from their table, her cellphone pressed to her ear and her feet taking her toward the closest bathroom. When she came back, some minutes later, Tai was jolted awake again, having dozed off while she was away.

"Everything okay?" he asked her, noticing the furrow in her brow.

"It's nothing."

"Hana."

She looked up at him, green eyes red and watering.

"What do you want me to tell you, Tai?" Her voice cracked as she said his name. "That my boyfriend has absolutely _no_ time to see me? Me, his freaking girlfriend, who's been living by herself all this week, and he can't even make one measly trip down here to see me? Like I've even seen him a lot since I moved to this blasted country."

"I'm glad we mean so much to you," Tai replied, snidely.

"I didn't mean it like that," she snapped. She wiped at her face. "I just… I'm just…"

"Stressed?"

"Stop saying that!"

"You're just proving my point."

"And you're just aggravating me."

Tai let out a puff of air, blowing some strands of hair from his face before he got up, stretched his arms, cracked his knuckles, and walked around the table to Hana's side. He took her gently by the elbow, prompting her to stand up.

"You're getting some shut eye, Kurosawa. You really need it."

"I need to _study_, Tai," she said, resisting. "I can sleep when I'm dead."

"You're such a drama queen. Come on."

"Stop it! Tai—"

He dragged her over to the nearest couch he could find, which, of course, was occupied. Bribing the sofa's present occupant, however, freed it for him, and he gestured for Hana to sit in it.

"Tai, this is stupid."

"Just sit. I'm just asking you to take a few minutes for yourself. Five minutes. That's it. Then you can go back and study until the break of dawn and your eyes are bloodshot and popping out of your skull."

She glared at him but acquiesced nonetheless, sitting herself down with her arms crossed, her back ramrod straight, her tense body refusing to relent to the comfort of a cushy piece of furniture. Though, it seemed as though as soon as she made contact with the plushy cushions, every muscle in her body ached—not necessarily from pain, but _for_ rest.

Tai sat himself beside her, completely opposite in manner.

"Wow. This one's even better than the other one." He leaned his head back and closed his eyes. "Wake me up in a few minutes, will you?"

Hana rolled her eyes and poked him in the side, smirking albeit.

"If you're trying to sell sleep, it won't work. I still remember all of the stuff I was planning to get done tonight."

"Was having a tantrum one of them?"

"Oh, shut up."

He chuckled and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, squeezing her slightly and forcing her to lean back a bit. In his tiredness he forgot to remove his arm afterwards, and so it continued to hang over her shoulders, keeping her against the couch, and, perhaps less subtly, against him. She didn't shrug it off, maybe because she didn't mind it, or, more likely, she didn't know it was there. There were other things on her mind, after all, like her absent boyfriend.

She didn't say anything for a while, and when he felt her head bump into his chest, he knew she had fallen asleep. The right thing to do would have been to carefully and gently ease off the couch without disturbing her, but Tai liked where he was. Besides, he wasn't a very sneaky person, and, most likely, he'd have woken her if he tried to leave. He reasoned, also, that she had been coming home to an empty house all week. The least he could do was keep her company—in the most platonic of ways, of course. Resolved, he closed his eyes once more, content to have Hana resting her head against his heartbeat.

xXx

**A/N: Aww, how cute. But you know I'm evil and something bad is going to happen. Bahahaha!**

**Thank you for reading! :) **


	25. Twenty-Five

**A/N: Thank you for your continued readership and reviews! I apologize beforehand if Tai's character in this chapter is… ill-portrayed. (You'll know what I mean as you read). I tried to do him justice. I really did, but you all will be the final judge. **

**Enjoy the chapter! **

xXx

TWENTY-FIVE

xXx

**H**ana woke to manly murmurs and a painfully bright light. Annoyed, she risked opening an eye to see what college student was bothering her when, instead, she caught a glimpse of a mustached security guard shining a flashlight in her face.

"You kids are in here past closing time," he said, none too pleased. "Get out and get back to your dorms." He left with another colleague, no doubt to continue their patrol through the now _closed_ library and to kick out any other students who thought they could make it a temporary home.

Hana could barely register the command. Her head pounded, and after having the flashlight waved before her face, her eyes were struggling to get adjusted to the newfound dimness. Lights weren't completely off, but only a third of them remained on in order to conserve energy. Tai, evidently in deep sleep, had caught no wind of their trespassing and continued snoring away on his end of the sofa.

"Tai," she whispered harshly, shaking him. "_Taichi_. We overslept. Oh, God. We overslept. I don't even know what time it is."

She continued to mumble a string of worries as she got up and gathered her things, Tai, meanwhile, only beginning to rise from the sweet grave that was slumber.

The first words to pop out of his mouth were, "Why is it so dark?"

Hana answered him readily enough, speeding toward him with their stuff in hand.

"Because the library is closed, you idiot. And we clearly overstayed our welcome here. Here's your coat."

"Th—"

His jacket landed on him square in the face.

"You can stop and breathe any time, you know," he said, slowly and calmly getting up from the couch and slinging his backpack over his shoulder. "We'll be fine. What time is it?"

"Past three o'clock in the morning," Hana grumbled. She led the way out of the library, walking so quickly that Tai was forced to pick up his pace in order to keep up with her.

"O… kay," he said. "So… maybe we have a problem." He grimaced. He had told his parents that he would be home by midnight.

"How are we supposed to get home?" Hana panicked. They reached the outside of the library, both of them getting punched in their faces by a rough, wintry gust. Tai squinted against the windburn, his eyes looking around for some type of outside shelter they could stay in until they came up with a plan to get home. Though, with Hana losing her wits right beside him, it was getting difficult to concentrate.

"The metro is closed," she said, chewing on a nail. "I don't have enough money for a cab. We're not really university students so they can't use their escort vehicles to take us back, and even if they offered to they can't possibly drive us all the way to Odaiba, can they?"

Tai spotted a bus stop with a covered bench and grabbed her hand, his nerves being tested by her incessant worrying.

"God, this is such a mess," she continued. "And I don't really know anyone who lives close by who could possibly drive us even though they'd practically be driving all the way to the other side of town. If Ryo had just come down to freaking _visit_ me, this wouldn't have happened. He'd have called me around midnight and told me he was going to pick me up and then he'd take me home and none of this would have happened…"

"Hana," said Tai, strictly.

"Yes?"

"Shut. Up. I'm sure there's a way out of this that's simpler than you think."

"Well, when you come up with one, let me know, because I'm all out of ideas." She paused. "I need to go to the bathroom." She didn't wait for Tai's approval. "I'll just pop into a nearby building or the library—if it's still open—and use their bathroom real quick. I'll be back."

Her departure gave Tai ample room to think, and he didn't think long before he decided that the best course of action would be to take a cab. He reached for his wallet and pulled out what cash he had, which he knew wouldn't be enough to get them both home. He suddenly regretted bribing that one student off of the couch.

Stuffing his wallet back into his pocket, he pulled out his cell phone and dialed the operator. He didn't get too far in asking for a taxi service's number when he heard some distant chatter—all of it male.

"Could you hold on for a second?" he said into his phone. With the device still pressed to his ear, Tai left the bus bench and walked in the direction of the voices, catching sight of a few young men in their packed compact car and Hana speaking to them through the driver's open window.

"What the hell are you doing?" he asked, coming up to her and grabbing her arm.

"I thought I'd ask for some help."

His teeth clenched.

"I told you I'd take care of it. I'm calling a cab right now."

"But I don't have money for a cab."

"I said," he reiterated, through tight lips, "that I would take care of it, Hana. Now, let's go."

He tugged at the sleeve of her coat, and she left with him, despite getting annoyed that he was being so bossy.

"It's not like they were being uncivil," she said, when they had returned to the bus stop. "I'm pretty sure they would have offered to take us if you had just let me talk to them."

"Right, Hana. Because they'd totally be willing to take both me and you back home. As soon as I enter the picture, they'll leave."

"So you're saying that they were going to help me because I'm a girl?"

"What do you think? Of course they were going to help you because you're a girl! A girl, alone, at three o'clock in the morning. Yeah, Hana. Your dad would be _so_ proud of you for making that decision."

"Why are you being like this?"

"_Why?_" He turned around. "Because you stand there complaining about how Ryo isn't here to save you when you have _me_. He might not be here for you right now, Hana, but _I_ am. The least you can do is trust me, but you go frolicking off to talk to _complete strangers_ asking for help rather than letting me handle things. Don't you think _I_ want to get home safely? Get _you_ home safely? What do you take me for?"

Hana switched her gaze south, her face feeling heavy and drawn. A faint ember of warmth bled into her numb ears, and she plopped herself down on the cold metal bench, arms crossed to keep herself warm. She heard Tai's "Hello? Hello?" as he resumed his telephone call, which was quickly followed by a "God damn it. They hung up," and some more pressing of buttons.

When he had at last contacted a taxi service and ensured them a ride back (or at least partially, since he didn't have enough cash to get them to Odaiba), he leaned forward in his seat, elbows resting on his knees and his chin balanced atop the bridge of his clasped fingers.

Hana watched him openly, the guilt that normally would have made her head hang in shame moving her instead to gaze at Tai in short wonder. She never would have imagined him scolding her. Duly chastised, Hana lowered her stare, catching a glimpse of the cold concrete sidewalk before looking upon Tai's profile once more.

She called his name.

"Yeah?" He glanced at her, a firm frown still on his face.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to come off as unappreciative. I just… when you're used to certain people being there for you because they've been there for you your entire life, it's just natural that you turn to them in your times of need. You expect them to be there."

"Hana, I'm too tired to listen to any profound and philosophical explanations for why you do what you do. Leave that to Ryo Hiraki, and let me just think about how the hell I'm going to explain to my parents why I came home around four o'clock in the morning."

"I won't bother you any longer then," she replied, dismally. She contemplated getting up for a few minutes before finally standing. "I'm just going to take a short walk. I think I need it."

Tai didn't say anything. He merely glanced up at her before looking away. She took it as a confirmation that he didn't care what she did so long as she was out of his sight for a few minutes, and she could understand full well why he would want to be apart from her.

"I have my phone with me," she said, knowing that she was talking to a wall. "So if the cab comes, just call me and I'll come running back."

He could only afford a short, curt nod in reply, again, avoiding eye contact.

Hana sighed.

She pulled her coat in tighter around herself before leaving, Tai keenly aware of the skid of her sneakers against the sidewalk as she disappeared from his view. His fingers clenched into fists as he debated whether or not to stop her, and his feet tapped anxiously against the ground. He scratched his head once, and then twice, and then three more times before exasperatedly getting up and going after her.

"Hana!" he yelled, his voice echoing solo in the night.

He rounded the corner of the library, catching sight of her on the far end of the block.

"Hana!" he shouted again, picking up speed. Even though she turned around, he didn't stop running towards her.

"Is the cab here?" she asked, wondering why she was being pursued.

"No, I just… You shouldn't be out here… alone. It's… It's not safe."

He groaned inwardly at his articulateness, or, rather, his lack thereof.

"No one's really out here, Tai. I think I'll be fine."

"Sure, and then some rapist jumps out of the shadows."

She giggled faintly.

"I think you watch too many crime movies."

"I'm serious."

She considered him for a moment, her green eyes examining him with minute suspicion.

"All right, Tai," she said, giving her ultimatum. "Give me five minutes, and I'll meet you back at the bus stop."

Tai was given no opportunity to reply. Hana had promptly turned her back to him after giving him her terms, and, clearly, she would not yield. He wasn't happy about his defeat, but the only way he could have secured a victory was if he dragged Hana back to the bus stop with him, and he had already done that earlier.

"Fine," he muttered, stuffing his hands into his jacket pockets and making the slow trek back to the stop.

Once he was seated on the icy metal bench, he dug in his pockets for his phone, deciding to warn Kari of his impromptu arrival at sometime before—if not very close—to dawn. Calling his parents was out of the question, and Hana's father was in another part of the country for a conference.

He wasn't expecting his sister to actually answer her phone with a sleepy, "Hello?", and even though he was alone at the stop, he still spoke into the receiver in a low whisper.

"Hey, Kari. It's Tai."

He waited a few seconds for his sister to respond, and he took it that she was peeking over the rim of her bunk to check if he was sleeping on the bottom bed.

"You're in trouble, aren't you?" she said at last, her waking brain gradually piecing Tai's absence together.

"No," he said dryly. "Everything's fine. Hana and I just overslept at the library and now we're coming home… three hours after we were actually supposed to leave. I called a cab and everything. I should be back within the hour, but I need you to let me in without waking Mom and Dad." He paused. "They didn't stay up late to make sure I didn't miss my curfew, right?"

"No. They checked out at about ten o'clock, _trusting_ that you'd be here on time. I'll be awake until you get home. Is Hana all right?"

Tai sucked at his teeth.

"Yeah. She's fine. A little panicked, but fine. I've taken care of everything."

"Okay. Just… be careful."

"Will do. See you soon."

By the time his phone call had ended, Hana had returned to the stop as promised, seated on the opposite end of the bench, arms and legs crossed, feet swaying back and forth in idleness. He heard her hiss more than once from the cold.

"You okay?" he asked her, unable to withhold his concern.

"I'm fine, Tai. At least this time around I'm not wearing a 'rag,' right?" She smirked, glad to see him mirror the expression. It only took a few seconds for her to move herself closer to him, whatever hard feelings present earlier having been quelled by a few moments to cool off (literally). Neither of them said anything else until the cab arrived, though Hana was still tempted to utter more apologies. She didn't know why she felt obligated to say sorry when she had already done so. A part of her simply felt that she had done more wrong to Tai than he deserved, but she couldn't think of what else she had done to disrespect him.

"What are you kids doing out so late?"

Their cabbie had arrived and asked them the question while exiting his car to help them with their things.

"When I got the call about picking up a few university students," he continued, "I wasn't expecting a couple like you. You both look so young." He stuffed Hana's duffel into the trunk of his taxi.

"Oh, uh…" Hana looked at Tai briefly. "We're actually—"

"First year students," Tai finished.

"That explains it." He opened a passenger door for them. "Well, get on in. It's freezing out here."

"Got that right," Hana muttered.

"So… where to?" the cabbie asked, glancing at them from his rearview mirror.

"Um…" Tai leaned forward in his seat, poking his head out the window that separated driver from passenger. "We need to get to Odaiba," he said. "Searea specifically. Will this get us there?"

"_Odaiba_?" echoed the cabbie, face contorting as he turned back to look Tai square in the eyes. "You kids are going to school _here_ and you're commuting all the way from _Odaiba_?"

"We're only part-time students," Hana said, though she was only able to dig Tai partly out of the ditch he had dug for himself.

"Whatever you say, Miss, but Odaiba? Damn. What a commute!" He looked down at the cash Tai had passed to him, his expression suddenly turning grave. He leaned in close to Tai, keeping his tone low. "Look, I'm not going to say this loud enough in front of your girl, but this won't get you even halfway to Odaiba." Tai reddened—the only thing his mind registering was the cabbie's calling Hana _his_ girl. "_But_… I'll bring you there regardless. Poor girl looks half frozen, anyway."

"Thanks," Tai said, grateful that they hadn't gotten a grumpy driver. "You kind of saved our butts tonight."

He laughed.

"It's part of my job, really," he joked. "Saving teenagers from the trouble they get in. I better not have to pick you two up sometime in the near future, all right?"

"I swear we'll be good from here on out," Tai replied, smiling.

"Yeah, yeah. That's what they all say."

Hana had fallen asleep on her end of the cab by the time she felt Tai's nudge in her arm. She woke reluctantly, eyes straining to open and limbs unwilling to move. Her head felt astoundingly heavy, and even the slightest twist of the neck made her cranium throb.

"You might want to help her get out of there," she heard their cabbie suggest. Before she could mumble her refusal, she felt the car door she was leaning on give way, and she would have slumped over if Tai hadn't caught her and helped her out.

"You all right?" he asked her quietly. His fingers were hesitant to release her, and he hadn't removed his hold of her entirely until he stopped seeing her sway on her two feet.

"I'm just sleepy," she said, smirking afterwards. "You were right. I desperately need some shut eye." The chuckle that followed was interrupted by a continuous chain of sneezes, and Hana sniffed grandly afterwards, clearing the airways of her stuffy nose.

When Tai handed her her backpack and duffel, she was about to head toward the apartment building the cab was parked by when she realized she wasn't in her neighborhood.

"Oh, how silly," she said to herself, shaking her head. "I really should get some rest. I can't even think straight anymore." Her right foot was perched on its heel, ready to pivot herself around when Tai grabbed hold of her elbow and kept her still for a few moments.

"I don't think your dad would forgive me if he knew I let you walk home alone… in the cold… at almost four in the morning… to an empty apartment. I already let Kari know we're coming."

"Oh, well… I don't want to cause you any more trouble than you're probably in, Tai," said Hana, inching away from him. "I don't mind walking. It's not far. I can manage. Really."

"I promise my home isn't _that_ bad, Hana."

"But I don't have any clothes or a toothbrush or—"

"We'll figure something out. Let's get inside before you freeze to death."

He took her hand, and Hana followed after him, albeit embarrassedly. It was one thing to go over to a guy friend's apartment to do homework together. It was another to actually _sleep_ _over_. Such a situation had its fair share of particular connotations, though she didn't know why all she could think of was the naughty. Friends sleep over at friends' houses all the time. Why was she jumping to conclusions, and why, the more she thought about it, did her heartbeat escalate in the cage of her chest?

Tai winced as he unlocked his apartment door, attempting to do so with as little noise as possible. His father wasn't known to be a light sleeper, but his mother had remarkably good hearing while asleep; and if he was caught bringing a girl home—even if it was a friend—it was his mother's wrath that would deal out the fitting punishment, not his father's. He doubted his father would be very upset about him bringing Hana home. He might even be proud.

They were unprepared to find Kari waiting for them on the other side of the door, her pale skin vaguely aglow in the dark. Hana outright gasped at the sight of her, mistaking her for a ghost, and Tai, in an angry whisper, had to remind his near delusional guest to keep her voice down. He told Kari to find some pajamas for Hana to wear, and while his sister went off to their bedroom, Tai dragged himself into the kitchen.

"Do you want anything to drink?" he asked, wiping a hand over his tired face.

Hana stood awkwardly by the doorway, slowly pulling her feet out of her shoes.

"Maybe something warm would be nice," she said.

"No kidding."

As quietly as he could, he put the kettle on and was saved from having to talk to Hana further by Kari, who came in with neat bundles of clothes for each of them.

"I'm not sure if it will fit you," she said to Hana, "but it's all I could find."

Hana gratefully accepted the pajamas.

"You can dress up in our room," directed Kari. "There's a towel and a spare toothbrush laid out on Tai's bed—it's the bottom bunk."

"Thank you."

When Hana was securely behind closed doors, Kari joined her brother in the kitchen, who was caught leaning against the counter, yawning broadly.

"Have you come up with an excuse for Mom and Dad yet?" she asked.

"None at the moment. I'm kind of running on a few hours of sleep here, Kari. Any excuse I come up with now is going to sound like bull. Plus, I'm going to have to explain things to Mr. K, too, when he gets back."

"Maybe you should just tell the truth, then. Isn't that what Hana does?"

"Hana doesn't have parents like ours. After getting this pretty number—" He pointed at the healing wound on the back of his head, "—I'll be lucky if they just ground me for a few weeks."

His sister considered the probability for a moment.

"You go ahead and wash up. I'll watch the kettle," she offered.

Tai was thankful for his sister's kindness and took the bundle of clothes she had got for him and washed up and changed in the bathroom. When he emerged a few minutes later, there was a pair of steaming mugs of tea on the living room coffee table. Hana sat on the sofa in her borrowed clothing, staring at her steaming mug with lowered eyelids. Her hair was pulled up in a messy bun, her face looking scrubbed but tired. She looked astoundingly pale.

He took the cautious route and sat in a neighboring armchair rather than beside her on the couch. She looked preoccupied with her thoughts, anyway, and he didn't want to disturb her.

"You don't have to drink it if you'd rather just go to sleep right away," he said. "Though, I promise Kari didn't poison it or anything."

She smiled slightly at the joke and made to reach for her mug but decided against it.

"It's still a bit too hot," she said. "I was so cold that when Kari first brought them out I immediately took a sip and burned my tongue."

"Are you all right?" He knew that his parents were somewhat conservative when it came to their heating bill, but he felt fine at the moment—toasty even. How was Hana still cold?

"Yes," she said. "Just… tired."

He still suspected that something was wrong but said nothing. He only sipped casually at his tea, Hana, meanwhile summoning up the courage to pick her mug up again and sip from it, albeit daintily.

"Thank you," she said randomly in the dark. "I think I would have been much more miserable if I had gone home by myself."

"No problem. I said that I'd have your back, didn't I?"

"Yes, yes you did." She rose, her sudden movement prompting Tai to mimic the action so quickly that he almost scalded himself, though he realized, too late, that she was standing to stretch, and he felt stupid when she sat herself back down on the sofa.

"You don't have to sleep on the couch, Hana," he said. "It's warmer in my room." She could only stare blankly at him in the dark. He reddened. "I mean… not like that—God, no—I mean, my sister's in there. You know what I mean. You could sleep in my bed—damn it—Not like that, either. I could sleep on the floor. Or I could sleep on the couch." She couldn't help but giggle as he continued to bungle up his words. "I'll just… I'm sleeping on the couch," he said declaratively. "Just take my bed before I say anything else."

"Is that an order, Kamiya?" she said, teasing him further.

"Unless you'd rather not," he replied, refusing to elaborate.

He was thankful that Hana didn't catch the subtext of his words. She just laughed lightly and patted him on the shoulder as she went to put her mug in the kitchen.

"You don't have any bed protocol, do you?" she asked as she headed for his bedroom. The door was slightly ajar, and she laid a hand on the doorknob.

"Bed protocol?" Tai echoed, coming toward her.

"Sorry. Some people are very particular about how their beds are kept."

Tai looked at her quizzically.

"It's a bed. You use it to sleep. What else is there?"

"O… kay. I guess that's a no, then." She parted the door to enter, and he was sorely tempted to pull her aside, and tell her things he should have told her a long time ago. But he was tired. She was tired. She'd probably forget what was said, and so would he, and he didn't want her to think that his confession was a dream.

"Good night, Tai. Thanks again… for everything."

"No problem, Han." The most he could do was lay a hand on her shoulder. "Get some rest."

She looked up at him then, green eyes wide and searching, her fingers gradually curling into loose fists. She'd have been lying to herself if she didn't feel an imaginary string tighten between them. Her heartbeat could be felt throbbing in her throat.

She smiled lamely, risking another glimpse up at Tai and his comforting gaze, sweat seeping through the grooves of her palms. Her thoughts were becoming incoherent, flashing and whirling dizzyingly in her mind. She felt faint. At the last minute, she averted her gaze from Tai, Ryo's face surfacing in the chaos abounding in her skull and tagging along with it their entire history—both as friends and as a couple. She bit her nether lip and turned her attentions back to the door.

It was parted slowly, Hana gently shutting it behind her and leaving Tai on the other side, trapped alone in the darkness of his living room. He wanted to call her back, and her name was even crawling up to the tip of his tongue, but it wouldn't allow itself to be uttered. A sigh escaped him instead, and he leaned his forehead on the doorframe, surrendering—again—to another missed opportunity.

He waited a few moments to listen for the creaks of his squeaky mattress, which would confirm for him that Hana was well on her way to slumber, but he didn't hear anything. Perhaps she just tiptoed into his bed, those delicate but battered ballerina feet of hers carrying her gently to repose.

For the briefest second he imagined that she was still standing on her side of the closed door, head hanging in the same manner as his, contemplating whether or not to open the door again and let instinct take over reason. But the fantasy quickly escaped him, and he eased away from his bedroom door, the weight of fatigue suddenly falling on his limbs. He collapsed onto the living room couch, unaware that Hana, too, had lingered by her side of the door, waiting for some extraordinary thing to happen.


	26. Twenty-Six

xXx

TWENTY-SIX

xXx

** H**er head felt like it was filled with water—heavy, liquid, and shifting. More than once she had opened her eyes only to be greeted by a blurry universe, the edges of the apartment she had grown to call home for the past several months existing without borders, every corner of furniture bleeding into something else.

She would hear murmurs uttered by a voice she knew well and found comfort in, and her body would be moved—a leg being covered by a blanket, her head being propped up higher on a pillow, a few fingers tracing the curve of her feverish cheek. If she had tried to speak, she couldn't understand (or, perhaps, remember) what it was she had said. It was as though all of her senses had been temporarily dulled, placing her in an empirical limbo where sensory experience was available but limited.

For some odd reason, the most recent and recurring memory she could recall was crying—not the kind she did when she was watching a sad movie. She had sobbed, hysterically, incomprehensibly, childishly, as if she were a dam that had suddenly cracked under the strike of a lightning bolt. About what, she didn't have a clue. Neither did she know to whom she had been crying, and she knew _someone_ was witnessing her tears because she always felt a hand wipe them away.

It was in such a pathetic, delirious state of mind that Hana remained for at least twelve hours. Clarity wasn't afforded her until her medicine had finally kicked in, and she woke, fully sentient now that her fever had gone down, to discover that she was on her living room couch, still dressed in Kari's borrowed pajamas but with her Kyoto University sweatshirt over it all.

She sat up and turned around, examining her surroundings. Her mind, having regained some of its functionality, was flooded with questions. How did she get home? Who put on her sweatshirt for her? And what time was it?

The answers to all her inquiries arrived in the form of her boyfriend, who approached her with a tray of soup and a glass of orange juice.

"Ryo?" Hana croaked. She smacked her lips afterwards, realizing how foul her mouth tasted.

"_Ça va_?" he replied, humoring her by speaking in his poor French. He set the tray on the coffee table before her and crouched down by the sofa, his blue eyes looking uncannily bright.

"It's good to see you awake and making sense, Han, at…" He checked his watch. "…five thirty in the evening." He chuckled afterwards and ran a hand through her tangled hair. Her fingers reached up to touch the palm he had pressed to her cheek, and she smiled weakly at him.

"How'd I end up here?" she asked. "The last thing I remember doing was…" She thought a moment. "Well… I was at Tai's house. I actually should have gone to school."

"Nice try, bookworm, but with your fever, I don't think so. You're sick with the flu, Hana. You need to get your rest."

Ryo felt her hold on his hand tighten somewhat, and he reacted by hastily pulling it out of her grip.

"But I have ballet practice to go to. Our production is less than a month away, Ryo. Those weeks will pass by in a flash. I can't—"

"Well, you are," he interrupted. "And you are going to have to stay in bed until you get better. I already called the academy. Nakamura doesn't want to see you until you are completely well and on your feet, or, rather, toes."

"But—"

"You should eat." He picked up the bowl he had placed on a tray and handed it to her.

"I'm not hungry," she mumbled.

Ryo glared at her in the way a parent would look at a child waiting to be scolded. His lips thinned.

"Hana, you really ought to be," he said, sternly. "I didn't drive all the way from Kyoto to have you be stubborn. The instant I got Tai's call about you being nearly incapacitated with fever, I dropped everything and came right away. Hell, Hana. Your dad's not even home. How can you even think about yourself and what _you_ have to do when you've made a bunch of us sick with worry about you?" He sighed. "I haven't even called your dad because I don't want him to worry or think that you're incapable of handling things on your own."

"Well, clearly I _am_ incapable, so I don't see why you should be hiding the truth from him."

Ryo sent her a look. Apparently, her fever didn't keep her from sassing him.

"Just… eat." He set the bowl of soup back down on the tray, some of it spilling over the rim. He got up and headed for the apartment door. "I'm going to get you more meds. Just stay where you are and try to eat something. I'll be back soon. You know how to reach me if you need me."

The door shut, and Hana was left alone to stare at the soup Ryo had prepared for her. To look at the meal made her feel wretched, and her appetite was only further decreased. The only thing she could force herself to consume was about a fourth of the orange juice, and when she had done that, she curled back up on the sofa, drawing the hood of her sweatshirt over her head and turning her back toward the sunset outside her window.

She had only fallen asleep for a few minutes when her apartment intercom buzzed—seemingly louder than it ever had before. Cursing under her breath, Hana willed herself off the couch, limbs still quaky from her ebbing fever. She was expecting Ryo to have some other last minute order to give her before he left, and it was with a grumble that she pressed the intercom button.

"What?" she demanded.

"Hana?"

The voice on the other end opened her senses, and she quickly replied back, though less harshly this time.

"Tai?"

"You're awake? Where's Ryo?"

Hana didn't bother to tell him.

"I'll let you in," was all she said.

Tai entered her apartment still dressed in his school uniform. Despite having only caught some three hours of sleep, he still decided to go to school, if only to collect Hana's missed assignments for her. He took one look at her and all her unkempt glory and had to smile.

"You look… good," he joked.

"Oh, come off it," Hana groaned, plopping herself back on her sofa and burying her face in a pillow. "I look like a wreck. I can't dance until I'm better. My school work can be kissed good bye. Ryo's being… well… _Ryo_."

Tai chuckled lightly and knelt down by the sofa so that he could look at her straight. She peeked at him from behind her pillow, her exposed, green eye squinting as a slant of light hit it.

"So what brings you by, Taichi?" she asked, her voice muffled by the fabric.

"Just checking to make sure you're doing all right. And also to deliver your homework—because I know that homework is _totally_ on your list of priorities right now."

"Damn right, it is," said Hana, extending a hand to receive the assignments.

"I was joking." Tai was somewhat concerned that Hana was actually thinking about doing school work while half her brain was frying in a fever.

"Well, I'm not. You forget that I kind of have to appease both ends of the spectrum here, Tai. If I don't give one hundred percent to each, I shouldn't bother doing either."

"That's a bit extreme." He handed her her homework anyway. He noticed the cold soup on the coffee table.

"Not to your liking, I'm guessing?" he asked, pointing to the tray of food.

Hana shrugged a shoulder, propping herself upright on the couch as she sifted through her homework.

"It's just a simple consommé with maybe a few carrots thrown in," she answered absentmindedly. "I'm not that hungry, anyway. If you want some, help yourself. I'm pretty sure there's extra."

"I'll pass," said Tai. He was vaguely disgusted by the thought of eating something prepared by Ryo Hiraki.

"So… you never told me where Ryo is. I'd have thought him to be here, nursing you back to health."

"He is," she stated bluntly. "He just went out to get me more medicine. He should be back soon if you want to talk to him."

"Nah, it's all right. I should probably get going, anyway. My parents will start wondering where I am, and I want to avoid another grounding," he replied, sending her a wink.

His parents discovering him sleeping on the couch that morning, along with the surprise of an ill Hana sleeping in his room had made his mother so red in the face from her anger that he thought that she would morph into Ogremon. Luckily, once he had explained everything and had had Kari and a barely conscious Hana to vouch for him, his mother seemed less upset, though she didn't let him get away empty handed. He was grounded for a full week—a punishment he was technically breaking by coming to visit Hana instead of going straight home from school.

"Get better for me, will you?" he said, in parting. It was an odd request, he knew, but whether it was detectable or not, Tai felt tremendously guilty about Hana falling ill. He wondered if, had he stayed awake at the library, they could have avoided not only their late night fiasco, but also the germs that were currently at war within Hana's petite body.

"I'll do my best," she said. "Thanks for stopping by, Tai."

"No problem. It's what friends do, right?"

She laughed lightly.

"Yeah." She watched him, slightly saddened as he made way for the door. Some odd part of her wished to reel him back, but she let the insignificant desire go unfulfilled.

"And, um… do me a favor, Han," he said, turning to look at her once more before he shut the door.

"Yes?" She held his stare as bravely as she could, though, for the first time she felt nervous under the gaze of his warm brown eyes. The beat of her heart was stampeding in her chest.

"Get something in your gut. I want a ramen eating rematch when you're better, so you'd better start training."

She laughed again, lightly, beautifully, and he wanted to do nothing more than run back to her and kiss her full on that giggling mouth of hers—germs be damned. His fingers gripped the doorknob tightly before the desire ebbed, and he quickly left before he changed his mind. With a smile still on her lips, Hana turned back to her bowl of soup, and without a second thought reached for her spoon and began eating.

Her good mood persisted even after Ryo had returned with her medicine. He was surprised to see her awake and watching television, and even more so when he saw the soup he had made for her finished.

"Looks like you're well on the mend, Han," he said, sitting himself beside her and hugging her against himself. "At this rate, you might not need me anymore."

"You never know," she said. "I could always use you."

Ryo remained silent, and after a time, removed his arm from her shoulders and got up from the sofa. Hana heard him go into the bathroom, and in the time she waited for him to return, she had fallen asleep on the sofa again. She was only startled awake when she felt another body on the couch. Her boyfriend was sitting on the other end, a textbook and highlighter in hand. He glanced up at her.

"I have exams coming up, Han," he explained. "I thought I'd get some studying done while I keep you company for the night."

"What are you studying for?" she asked, sitting up before crawling over to him. He let her slide in between him and the back of the sofa, his free arm wrapping around her waist as she rested her cheek on his chest. Ryo told her he was studying for Psychology, which came as no surprise to her. It was his favorite subject, so it made sense that he would begin studying for its exam earlier than most other students.

She would not pretend to have interest in the social science, and simply let him read and mark his book in relative quiet. For a time, she was just content to have him beside her, her worries about not being able to do much ballet or schoolwork eased as she listened to his steady breathing and felt the warm rise and fall of his chest. She remembered similarly falling asleep on him when he had kept her and her father company in the hospital when her mother was sick.

"I'm glad you're here, Ryo," she said softly. "I know we fought earlier on the phone, but I'm really glad you came to check on me."

Ryo said nothing for a time, his lips working to form an honest reply.

"Actually, it was Tai who called me and took care of you until I arrived," he said. "I think you owe him some thanks, too."

"Well, yeah," said Hana, brushing off the fact. "But you've been here for me since we were kids, Ryo. That has to count for something."

"I never said it didn't. I just…" He stopped himself short, taking into consideration that Hana was sick and lonely and that arguing her wouldn't exactly be noble of him. "Well, I did tell your mother I'd take care of you," he amended, ruffling her hair.

Hana smiled and hugged him tighter, comfortable watching him read and highlight his book in silence. It never occurred to her that Ryo wasn't giving her the same amount of attention she was giving him. Rarely did his eyes veer off the page to check on her, and his silence, coupled with the emptiness of the house and Hana's sickness, sent her fast asleep on him like some housecat.

When Ryo checked the clock to read that it was midnight, he looked down at the girl sleeping comfortably against him, a few fingers running over the curve of her forehead to check her fever. She was still relatively warm. As carefully as he could, he slid off the couch, making sure to put a sofa pillow where his body used to be to support Hana's slumbering head.

He shut his book and tucked it under his arm, going about the living room to shut off all of the lamps and lights. For a moment, he lingered by the bookshelf next to Hana's ballet equipment, his blue eyes catching sight of the pictures of the Kurosawa family. Smiling faintly, he examined a few of them, looking fondly at the memories of people whom he considered kin. But to gaze at the happy faces of the Kurosawas, especially of the late Mrs. Kurosawa, only saddened him, filled him with a regret he didn't feel justified to have.

Frowning, he turned back to look at Hana, her seraphic face making it almost hard for him to even consider what he planned on doing, but Ryo was resolved. He had made his decision a long time ago, but its execution was simply slow in coming. Perhaps too slow.

Setting his book on the coffee table, he went over to the couch and gently lifted Hana off it, carrying her to her bedroom and setting her softly onto her bed. He pulled the covers up to her neck before kissing her on the cheek and turning off her lights. He left the room, leaving the door slightly ajar. Hana thought she heard him talking on the phone in her sleep, hushed whispers punctuated by outbursts of laughter; but she mistook it for dreaming, only to wake to the first rays of the morning pouring through her bedroom window, discovering, based solely on natural intuition, that Ryo was gone.

xXx

**A/N: This chapter was the calm before the storm. Next chapter is… well, let's not get into that, but I'll just say that thinking about it puts even me at unease. It could potentially make or break this story, in my opinion (or maybe I'm being deliberately dramatic to keep you all stewing in suspense). So, if that doesn't give you an idea, I don't know what else will. Gah!**


	27. Twenty-Seven

**A/N: Just don't, you know, kill me. *hides* **

xXx

TWENTY-SEVEN

xXx

** T**his would be the end of it.

Tai's patience had dwindled down to a nub, and he could not wait for a moment longer. To do so would make him feel more off kilter than he already was, as if the center of his very being had spontaneously relocated itself to some unknown, unreachable space, leaving everything else to exist in entropy.

He had endured the week it took for Hana to recover from her bout with the flu, but at the expense of his schoolwork and his parents' trust. He couldn't keep to the confines of his grounding, and every day after school he visited the sick Hana, who was beginning to get back into the swing of things now that her father had returned from his conference.

Sometimes he would stay with the Kurosawas for hours, dodging the homework he was supposed to be doing only to be reminded that he did, indeed, live somewhere else by a phonecall from home. He would oblige his mother, of course, and leave the Kurosawa residence reluctantly. His parents did not know what else to threaten him with to ensure that he did was he was supposed to do. Kari had, of course, given them the reason why none of their current punishments were working.

"He's in love," were her words.

But every day spent in Hana's presence made it harder for Tai to function, especially when every waking thought of his somehow tied itself to her. His previous crushes never hit him at this caliber. Even his feelings for Sora were never this intense, and he genuinely thought that he was going crazy.

"Head over heels, I think, is what it's called, Tai."

The comment came from T.K., who, along with his brother, was at the Kamiyas' joining Tai and Kari for a pizza dinner. Mr. and Mrs. Kamiya were out visiting old friends coming to town, and brother and sister wanted the extra company.

"But then there's that freaking Ryo Hiraki in my way," Tai grumbled into his hands. They were all gathered on the living room furniture, Kari beside T.K. on the loveseat and Tai and Matt on the sofa. The former fidgeted in his seat ceaselessly.

"So what are you going to do, Tai?" said Matt, amused. "Punch him in the face next time you see him?"

"If only. Some of the things Hana's shared with me about the way he's treating her makes me sick. Did you know he left her in her apartment—alone—for two days before her dad came back? Didn't give a damn that her fever was still over a hundred while he was gone. He just up and left one night because he _had_ to get back to his studies. Jackass."

"I'm surprised Hana's not as upset about it," Matt posed. "…Unless he's done it to her before and she just doesn't care—or she's used to it."

"Or maybe she's cutting him some slack because they've known each other for a long time," T.K. suggested.

"That doesn't make sense," Tai argued. "You're harder on the people you know best. You expect more from them."

"Even so, that may also mean that you love those people more," Kari wisely pointed out. "That's why you expect so much of them, because you care about them."

"Whatever it is," Matt interjected, "it's up to Hana and Ryo."

"Or me," added Tai.

Matt frowned.

"I'd stay clear of Ryo and Hana's relationship, Tai. You've no right to interfere."

"Too late. Hana's coming over tonight to pick up some homework I got for her while she was at ballet practice. I'm going to tell her how I feel about her when she comes over."

"_What_?" Matt's expression changed entirely. "Are you sure about that, Tai? I mean, yeah, it's about time, but I thought you were going to take her some place nice or at least get the smell of pizza out of your apartment."

"I don't care anymore, Matt." He ran his hands briskly through his hair. "I shouldn't have waited this long. It has to end _now_."

And, as if his final word was a cue, the intercom to the apartment buzzed—loudly—and made everyone gathered around the living room flinch from the interruption.

"That's her," Tai said, standing.

Moments later, there was a knock on the door, and Matt did not waste a minute getting up and putting on his shoes.

Hana even caught him mid-shoe-tying when she was welcomed into the apartment, and after glancing at the faces of her friends and noticing how many of them were in various states of departure at her arrival, she smiled, a tad uneasily.

"Looks like a party," she joked.

"Or the end of one," said Matt, glancing up at her from his shoe. "T.K. and I were just leaving."

"And I'm going with them," Kari chimed in.

"Oh."

"Yeah," said T.K., coming up alongside Kari and placing a hand on her shoulder. "We're going to go… uh… watch a movie. So…" He, along with his brother and Kari, inched out of the apartment door. "… We'll catch you later!"

When the door clicked shut, Hana, still a bit unsure as to why everyone was in such a rush to leave, glanced up at Tai, who, surprisingly, had not said a word to her yet.

"Was it something I said?" she jested. "I mean… I know I'm coming straight from ballet practice, but still… I don't reek, do I?"

Tai laughed lightly.

"Matt and T.K. just stopped by for dinner. My parents are visiting some friends who are in town. And, well, as for my sister, I'm not sure exactly what her relationship with T.K. is, but it seems a little more than just platonic."

Hana smirked.

"So… those assignments you gathered for me?"

"Right. They're in my room."

He beckoned her to follow him as he made way to his bedroom, his palms beginning to sweat and feel gritty. His heartbeat swelled inside his chest, pumping too much blood to his head. He felt vaguely nauseated.

Hana followed him dutifully, socked feet sliding over the wood floor, her winter jacket still on. When she entered his room and he directed her to a pile of papers on his desk, she paused for a moment to riffle through the assignments. It was during that time that he slowly, cautiously, and quietly shut his bedroom door.

The click of the lock falling in place wasn't subtle enough, and Hana looked up from examining her homework, her eyebrows raised.

"Umm…" she said, her initial surprise wrinkling into suspicion.

"I need to talk to you," he said, before she could ask him why the hell he had trapped her in his room.

"Tai, you're the only person in your apartment right now. I don't think you needed to close the door if you wanted to talk to me in private."

She chuckled nervously.

"It's just… for my peace of mind, Han. Bear with me."

"…Okay."

She released the papers from her grip and let them lay free on his desktop, her attentions now fully concentrated on the boy who, she observed, looked the epitome of discomfort. His hands were jammed into his pants pockets, his stare angry, cast sideways to glance at some arbitrary spot on the floor. That he also kept his distance from her told her that this would be a serious conversation. She steeled herself.

"What's up, Tai?" she asked tentatively. The room felt exceptionally warm, especially with Hana still having her jacket on. She thought that she would be in and out of the Kamiya residence and back in the cold winter air.

"Hana…" He looked up at her bravely before casting his stare back on the floor. He took one step forward and stopped.

"Yes?"

She decided to wait for a moment. He said nothing, and she saw it as an invitation to keep talking.

"I mean, I know you're not the most articulate, Tai. Your record for saying the right words at the right time isn't particularly great, and, frankly, you're not that renowned for your deep, thought-provoking conversations. So for you to be acting this way is weird, but—"

"I like you."

His interjection sliced through her nervous string of babble, and Hana felt as though every word she had said prior was suddenly, rapidly stuffed back into her jabbering gob. Her lips closed.

Tai came forward. He half expected her to back away the more he advanced, but her feet remained nailed to the ground.

"I like you… a lot," he said.

His words were beginning to feel like snowflakes on his tongue—light and airy, its chill invigorating, encouraging even. He took another step.

"I have… for a while now. And I know you have a boyfriend, but I can't help the way I feel about you, Hana. I just thought..." He felt his courage begin to dwindle, and his hands clenched. "I just thought…" he repeated. The words he wanted to say—'_I thought you might like me too'_— were becoming lost to him, scrambling about in his head and eluding capture. He sighed.

"I just thought I'd let you know," he finished. "I don't like keeping things from you."

An anxious moment passed between them.

"That's it," he said, stepping back. "That's all I had to say."

Hana studied him while she processed his confession, her green eyes never leaving his own. Her continued silence only made Tai perspire profusely, and he wished that she would just say one of two things to him to end his agony: "Yes, I like you, too," or, worse, "I'm sorry, but I don't feel that way about you, Tai."

Neither ended up being said.

"Tai," she began softly.

She neared him, her hands shockingly reaching for his own, stiff though they were. With ease she uncurled the tight fists, and gently, but firmly, held his fingers. They were rougher than she imagined and slightly dry.

"Tai," she repeated, looking up at him. "I'm flattered that you feel that way about me."

His stare widened. 'Flattered' wasn't the word he was hoping for, as if his long-kept confession were some senseless fodder for her ego.

Hana continued.

"I…" She cleared her throat, red blooming on her cheeks. "I've had my suspicions, actually."

Tai's limbs froze, and Hana detected in his hands the return of tenseness, and she only held onto him more tightly.

"I'm not blind, Tai," she said, giving him an empty smile. "Ryo's not the first boy I've dated. I think I can tell pretty well when a guy likes me."

He pulled his hands out of her own, suddenly deeply upset—almost to the point of disgust. If she knew, why didn't she do anything about it? Why didn't she stop him? Why did she let him flirt with her, and why, moreover, did she flirt back?

"Then why didn't you tell me?" he asked, his voice low but stern. "You could have saved me a lot of trouble."

"And what?" she countered, disapproving of his question and the tone it was said in. "Ruin a good friendship? What do you think would have happened if you had told me earlier?"

"Exactly what's happening right now," he replied, gruffly. "You can't think that you haven't had a hand in this, Hana. You…" He pressed his lips tightly together, already regretting his choice of words. "You _led_ me on."

His ears awaited her vehement denial, but he didn't hear anything. Hana merely looked down at the ground, her head hanging like those fully guilty of whatever crimes they had committed.

"You don't understand, Tai," she said somberly. "Moving to a new country after your mother passed away… It's like your entire universe just flips on itself. Nothing is the way it used to be, and you're trying so hard to adjust, to build anew, but all you keep searching for is what was there, what existed prior to everything collapsing, and you can't find anything. Your home is different, your school is different, your friends are different. Even my boyfriend… is _different_."

She closed her eyes, her eyelashes slightly damp.

"The Ryo I fell in love with in France is not the same Ryo here in Japan. This Ryo has absolutely no time for me, he comes and goes as he pleases, he's never there when I need him to be, and if he is, he's there begrudgingly, as if I'd asked him to chop off his left leg for my sake. I just needed something—_someone_—consistent in my life, Tai."

She opened her eyes and looked at him bravely, blinking away any water that had gathered.

"That was you."

Tai's hard mouth did not twitch. His eyebrows were wrinkled, his arms taut again at his sides, his stare intense as she looked back at him, defeat already etched into her sad face.

"So I was just some replacement for you?" he sneered, "some pseudo-boyfriend to tag along with you places so you didn't feel so damn alone? _Are you kidding me?_"

His bitterness radiated off him. Hana almost tasted it in her mouth. She looked away, sorry that she had ever told him the truth.

"You want me to deny it?" she said meekly.

"No, I don't want you to deny it!" he yelled. "I want to know why you ever thought you could use me like that. Just because you suspected that I liked you shouldn't have meant that you could take advantage of it. You should have stopped it. But no, you didn't. You were just thinking about yourself. I must mean absolutely nothing to you."

"That's not true!" she cried.

Tai scoffed.

"You know, Ryo _is_ right about one thing, Hana. You're selfish. Everything happens _to _you. You're the God damn center of the entire freaking universe, Hana! Congratulations! Everything else means nothing! You should be proud."

His sarcasm was biting and unnecessary, but Hana took it all like a dumb mute, stupid in the face of his anger. She wiped calmly, albeit with trembling hands, at her eyes before exiting his bedroom and leaving his apartment entirely, her steps as sure and steady as they were when she entered.

Tai couldn't bear to watch her go. His mind was a mess, jumbled and chewed up by his anger over the fact that she had been using him all along—using him to fill in the gaps her present boyfriend didn't—or, rather, _wouldn't_. She tricked him into filling the role without surrendering the title it to him, without reciprocating the loyalty.

He couldn't understand her. She didn't even fight back, didn't even try to defend herself before him, and she abandoned him before he could force more answers out of her.

He slammed shut his bedroom door and leaned against its frame, his forehead touching wood, his gaze directed to the floor.

"You're the center of everything, Hana," he murmured. "And you should know that when you fall, everything else falls to shit with you."

Groaning, he punched at his door, knuckles white and aching, before turning around, exasperated with himself. His back slid down the panel as he sank to the ground, his head cradled in his hands.

"Everything falls to shit," he repeated, running a hand through his hair. "Including me."


	28. Twenty-Eight

**A/N: So, I know last chapter was a doozy. I'm sorry if it caused, um, _negative feelings_. That's as broad as I can put it. BUT… this chapter only adds insult to injury (literally!) Because I'm evil like that. Though, I promise you all, things will get better for Tai and Hana… well, maybe not Hana because she deserves some bad luck for rejecting Taichi like that. ;) **

**Many, many thank yous to you all who continue to follow this story… even if I am disappointing you. **

**Enjoy the chapter! (… I hope.)**

xXx

TWENTY-EIGHT

xXx

**M**att glanced every now and then at Tai in their train seats, the latter never looking particularly thrilled that he had joined Matt and his band on their trip to Kyoto for the weekend. Ryo Hiraki's proposal (which seemed like ages ago) about getting the Teenage Wolves to play at Kyoto University finally fell through, and the band was excited to play for its biggest crowd yet. Tai really wouldn't have joined them, but Matt thought it would do his friend good to get out of Tokyo for a few days—for obvious reasons.

Without Tai ever telling him how things went with Hana, Matt knew that the confession was badly met, and it surprised him, in a negative way. He was so sure that Hana would, if she did take Tai down, do it gently, but she didn't. She replied to his confession with one of her own, one that didn't ease Tai's dread, but worsened it. It was a bad move on her part—idiotic, really—and he refused to talk to or acknowledge her for days. When he did feel comfortable enough to confront her about the way she handled Tai's confession, he left little room for her to defend herself.

"He didn't deserve to be treated the way you treated him, Hana," he had told her one day—scolded her, more like. "He's done everything for you—more than your boyfriend has since you've been here. You should have at least given him a chance."

Hana had replied with the voice of one who surrenders without ever surrendering.

"If it is what you say it is, Matt," she had said, "then I don't deserve to even ask his forgiveness. I'll live with my error. _That_ is what I deserve." And she left before he could tell her she was being irrational and stubborn.

He didn't see her much afterwards. Her ballet production was only a few weeks away, and school and finals had all been pushed to the back of her priorities list. She had other things to worry about, clearly, than Tai and her other friends.

"You all right?" he asked Tai for what seemed like the umpteenth time on their train ride. He gave him a light punch in the shoulder.

Tai didn't flinch or blink.

"Yeah. I'm fine."

"That's bull."

Tai snorted.

"What do you want me to say, Matt? You've been bothering me with the same question every ten minutes. It's not going to change. And whose idea was it to take me to Kyoto—to the same school that her boyfriend—the one she won't leave for me—goes to in order to clear my big head?"

"It's still away from her, Tai."

"But closer to her boyfriend." He grunted. "I hate that guy, Matt."

"You aren't angry at her? You're still directing all of your hate on the boyfriend?"

Tai crossed his arms and shrank in his seat. He _had_ been angry at Hana. He hated that she had used him, toyed with his feelings as if they were some plaything for her amusement. But it only took three days for the anger to be turned inward towards himself. Somehow, he had convinced himself that Hana was incapable of such cruelty against his heart, and the fault, rather, was with him. He questioned how he could have ever been so stupid as to think he could have been her reason for leaving her boyfriend—the boy who, as of late, made her cry more often than laugh, who seldom called her, who treated her less like his other half and more like a child: do this, don't do that, eat this, eat less of that.

Perhaps he hadn't been angry at Hana because she had played him. Maybe the reason they had argued was because she _knew _how much he had done for her, and, still, for whatever reason, she clung to what continuously made her unhappy. It dawned on Tai that the problem wasn't Hana. It wasn't himself, either.

It was Ryo.

"If Hiraki wasn't in the picture, Matt," Tai said, "I'd _be_ her boyfriend, not some fill-in for him."

When the cab dropped them off at an apartment complex near the university's main campus, Tai was just about ready to pivot on his heel and walk in the other direction. The building seemed like a natural haunt for college students—modern, eco-friendly, with a series of coffee shops and boutiques nearby to satisfy every student's needs for caffeine and middle-class sophistication. Ryo was waiting for them by the entrance, his hands in the pockets of his expensive jeans and a grin on his face.

"Any trouble with the commute?" he said in greeting, shaking Matt's hand.

"No, not really."

"Ah, and Tai joined you," Ryo observed, still smiling. "Excellent. Glad to see you, Tai."

Tai hesitated a moment too long in shaking Ryo's outstretched hand—enough for the latter to perceive the masked animosity.

"Here. Let me take you all up to my apartment. You can drop your stuff off there, and then I'll give you a tour of the campus before we start your stage set-up. Sound good?"

Ryo beckoned them all with a flick of his wrist, and while Matt and the rest of the Teenage Wolves followed him dutifully, Tai lingered behind, debating whether or not any of this trip made sense and concluding that none of it did. He trailed behind the others, brown eyes occasionally glaring at the back of the cool and collected Ryo Hiraki.

His apartment was expectedly luxurious despite his age and the fact that he was not a working adult. It was plain, filled with minimalist furniture and abstract art, with a monochromatic color scheme save for the occasional splash of blue. The space was also immaculately clean, enough to make Tai suspect that Ryo Hiraki was some sort of inner neat freak with severe obsessive-compulsive issues. The senior Mr. Hiraki must have really felt guilty about leaving his son behind most of the time while he traveled on business trips. Otherwise, Tai deduced, Ryo wouldn't have been living so opulently.

"Your place is sweet!" exclaimed Yutaka. "It looks like it came right out of a home magazine."

Ryo laughed lightly.

"If the cleaning lady hadn't come yesterday, it certainly wouldn't look like it."

Tai's suspicions were rapidly dashed. Ryo was a man after all and made messes for women to clean up.

"I only have one spare bedroom," Ryo continued. "I hope some of you won't mind sleeping on living room furniture… or the floor."

"Dude," began Akira, "I would sleep in the bathroom if that was my only choice."

After dropping their luggage off, they gathered in the living room, Matt and his band with instruments in tow. Matt had elected to drop his suitcase off in the spare bedroom, and the fact that Ryo had another bedroom but no roommate made him wonder if it was exclusively used for guests—and if so, if he had people over often.

"I'm guessing that room is for Hana when she visits you?" he asked, casually.

Ryo whisked his head around quicker than Matt anticipated. For the first time, Ryo looked startled, almost unnerved. His reply was not quick in coming, and Takashi remarked on the question first.

"Your girlfriend's the ballerina girl? If I were you, I wouldn't be keeping her in a separate bedroom." Snickers abounded among the other band members, causing Tai to shoot a glare at them and Ryo to look away, slightly annoyed.

"It's not Hana's room, no," he said, rather curtly. "She's never come up to visit me, so I see no point in reserving a room for her."

He turned and headed for his front door, walking with the confident gait that he would be followed.

The subject ended at that.

The tour of Kyoto University was expertly done, as though Ryo were a professional tour guide or college recruiter seeking to secure more souls to higher academia. He received many a shout of greeting or wave from other students as he showed Tai, Matt and the others around, confirming the fact that he was, as Ren had phrased it, "a big man on campus." It troubled Tai, too, that a good number of the people who greeted him were girls.

"A lot of them have been guys, too, Tai," Matt pointed out. The two of them were standing in a cafeteria line, Ryo treating them to a not-so-fantastic lunch at one of the university's dining halls. "Maybe you're just focusing on the girls… which doesn't surprise me, actually."

The frown on Tai's face did not relent. He glanced over his shoulder, catching sight of Ryo a ways off, conversing with the rest of the Teenage Wolves.

"Just because one girl has rejected me doesn't mean I'll pick up the first girl who says I'm cute," Tai replied. "And it's not about me. Ryo's hiding something."

"He did seem a bit peeved at the question I asked him—about Hana, that is."

"My point exactly."

"But that doesn't mean he's hiding something. I mean, I'd be a bit upset if Sora never came over to my house to see me. Why shouldn't Ryo?"

Tai was reluctant to reply. He looked back at the person in question, glaring at him keenly, until, out of the blue, Ryo's eyes shifted in Tai's direction and caught him staring. He turned around.

"I don't know, Matt," Tai mumbled. "Something's not right."

But a few minutes later, when Matt and Tai were still in a lunch line, Ryo came up to them. He set a hand on Tai's shoulder, causing the teenager to flinch. Tai tried to shrug off Ryo's hand, but his grip was tighter than imagined.

"Say, Tai," Ryo began, "I'd like to talk to you when you get a moment. Not right now, no. But maybe after the Teenage Wolves' show?"

"Didn't you say there was going to be an afterparty at your place?" Tai asked, refusing to give him a proper answer.

"Well, yeah. We can talk then. It's easier for me to slip away for a private conversation in a crowd of people—as ironic as that is. So… can we talk later?"

"About what?"

Ryo smirked, chuckling a bit before releasing Tai. He gave him a pat on the back.

"You'll find out. It won't come as too much of a surprise, either."

He left afterwards, Tai's fists clenching unconsciously as he watched Ryo's retreating back. They were going to talk about Hana, he knew. He knew it. His appetite abruptly abandoned him, and he turned to exit the line.

"I told you this was a bad idea," he grumbled to Matt, brown eyes glaring at his friend before he decided to leave the building.

Tai didn't really know where he was going. He only that he had to go somewhere to escape what would inevitably happen. On his way out, he passed a tall, blonde girl. They exchanged glances briefly, if only because Tai found her quite out of place in their present environment. Most girls from Japan were short and brunette—like Hana—,but this one was but a few inches shorter than him, with hair so blonde that it was almost white. That she flashed him a pretty smile didn't help his staring, though he remembered why he was leaving the building in the first place.

"Go to Kyoto for the weekend, Tai," he grumbled, mimicking Matt's initial invitation to him. "It'll help get your mind off Hana." Tai snorted and kicked at the sidewalk. "Yeah. Right. What a load of bull."

xXx

The lingering, guttural booms of the bass occupied the space in his ears like pieces of cotton. More than once Tai had stuck a finger in to clear out the afternoise of Matt's predictably spectacular show. If he got a moment of audible clarity, it was short-lived, replaced by the din of chatter and drunken laughter of Ryo's well-orchestrated afterparty.

The few beers he had had the stomach to down weren't helping, either.

A quick glance around the crowded living room revealed the Teenage Wolves sans Matt in the middle of a game of beer pong, surrounded by a horde of college males who cheered them on—their constant whooping and hooting making them sound like a pack of gorillas. In the throng, Tai wasn't able to make out Ryo or Matt, and he blamed the alcohol. His eyes were becoming hypersensitive to color. Ryo's once dull and grey living quarters suddenly seemed ablaze with the dizzying hues of college girls in short, tight dresses, the iridescent gleam of sweat on people's cherry red faces, the ubiquitous image of the infamous crimson plastic cup.

He swallowed another mouthful of cold beer, refusing to budge from his isolated corner, his back leaning against the slick glass of a tinted windowpane. If it was Matt's plan to get him wasted and have him act like an idiot for the night in order to "get his mind off of Hana," he was sorely mistaken. Tai's pre-existing sour mood only worsened with alcohol, and instead of being the happy drunk he normally was, Tai was aloof and silent.

The fingers he had clasped around his own red cup tightened their grip a bit, causing the cheap plastic to bend inward with a crackle. He went to finish off the rest of his drink when Matt suddenly appeared beside him, out of breath and pink in the face.

"Why aren't you… um… out there?" He gestured at the rest of the party goers.

"I can't dance to save my life, remember?" Tai replied, smartly.

"You don't have to dance. Just… mingle. Honestly, Tai, what's the use of bringing you here if all you're going to do is mope around thinking about Hana?"

"Maybe because I'm in her boyfriend's freaking apartment and I can't help but think of her for as long as I'm here."

"You aren't trying."

"Yeah, well, you aren't helping. Go back to signing autographs and hanging out with girls who are not Sora."

"Everyone knows I have a girlfriend, Tai. It's how I've introduced myself. 'Hi, I'm Matt Ishida, lead singer for the Teenage Wolves. I'm sixteen years old and I have a wonderful girlfriend named Sora. She plays tennis.'"

Tai didn't say anything.

"And here's my best friend, Taichi Kamiya, captain of our high school soccer team and recently just turned down by Ryo Hiraki's ballerina girlfriend."

"You want me to punch you, Matt?"

"I'd be happy to receive it, if that's what you're asking. Anything, really, to get you to stop brooding like a preteen girl."

"Easy for you to say. You've never been rejected."

The two fell into silence afterward. Tai grew fed up with the lack of conversation and left to grab another beer. On his way to the nearest keg, he thought he saw the tall, blonde girl he had passed by earlier, but with his thoughts beginning to get muddled, he wasn't certain. He filled his cup and made the slow trek back to his loner corner, dodging a few requests from Matt's other bandmates to join a game of beer pong along the way.

When he reached his spot, he was surprised and simultaneously disgruntled to see it populated with more people than he had left it. Ryo had joined Matt, drinking beer out of a _glass_ instead of a plastic cup like the rest of them. Tai was tempted to gag at the small detail. Who the hell did he think he was drinking cheap beer out of a _glass_?

"Ryo," Tai said lowly, issuing the name like a threat.

"Tai, why so glum?" Ryo replied happily. "I can't have you not having a good time here. You'll tell Hana and she'll never visit me after she hears from you how lame my parties are." He chuckled afterwards.

"Hana and I aren't on speaking terms right now."

"So she's told me."

Ryo downed the beer in his glass and set it on a nearby shelf. He was about to address Tai again when the girl Tai had noticed earlier came seemingly out of the blue and handed Ryo another drink—different this time, a cocktail—before kissing him on the cheek and remaining by his side, Ryo's arm looping around her waist. Tai had witnessed the exchange mid-swallow on a slurp of beer and choked.

Matt winced.

"So, Tai, this is—"

Ryo cut Matt's introduction off.

"This is Elin," he intercepted. "Or 'Eli' as everyone calls her. Pronounced 'Ee-lee.' She's an exchange student from Sweden."

The red cup in Tai's hand had been crunched in a tight fist while Ryo had been speaking, every odd thing he had done in Hana's company explained with astounding transparency. She, this _Elin_, was behind the long phonecalls that Ryo took at abrupt moments, the recipient of the texts he sent when Hana wasn't looking, the reason why he didn't keep Hana company when she was sick. Tai knew that Ryo was hiding something, and here she was in all her fair and foreign beauty.

Matt, detecting right away that Tai's blood was reaching a boil, reached out to lay a calming hand on his shoulder. Tai shrugged it off.

"This is another of Hana's friends from her school," Ryo explained, completely oblivious to Tai's unveiling rage. "Taichi Kamiya."

"Oh, it's a pleasure to meet you," said Elin. "I was talking a bit with Matt earlier, and I wish you had brought Hana with you. Ryo's told me so much about her." Her limpid blue eyes switched momentarily to Matt who smiled grimly before she extended her hand to Tai. Her hand had remained outstretched to him for only a few seconds before she realized that he hadn't even noticed her. She was about to say his name when he abruptly chucked his broken cup away. He lunged at Ryo.

"You lying, cheating, selfish son of a bitch!" Tai shouted, throwing a swing at him. He hit Ryo square on the side of his face, knocking him back against the windowpane and causing a loud "_Twang!_" to reverberate throughout the room. Nearly every head in the room turned to look in their direction.

Matt was quick to restrain Tai and pushed him back, stepping in between the two of them. Elin knelt down to help Ryo up, asking him profusely if he was all right.

"I'm fine," he muttered, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth. He glared briefly at Tai. "I'll just get this cleaned up."

Elin helped him out of their company, her icy blue eyes sending a wary look at Tai for his unnecessary violence. Tai gladly glowered back at her, only to be reminded of his brutishness by a shove from Matt.

"You're an idiot!"

"_I'm_ the idiot?" Tai yelled back, returning the shove. "What the hell, Matt? This two-faced snob has been cheating on Hana for who knows how long! You think I'm just going to let that pass?" He gave Matt another rough push. "Whose side are you on?"

"Yours," Matt said stiffly, nudging Tai in the shoulder. "But you _have_ to calm down. You think you're helping any by picking a fight with Ryo? You think Hana would be impressed by that?"

Tai's breath caught in his throat, and he hesitated a moment, his body ready for retaliation but his mind finding temporary clarity in Matt's words. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to dam the fury coursing through Tai's veins.

"Leave her out of this. She has _nothing_ to do with this!"

"_Nothing_?" Matt shot back. "Tai, she has _everything_ to do with this! I suggest you think on that before you go around punching people for problems that you can't solve without her."

xXx

**A/N: Pow, pow, pow! That's the Taichi we know and love! Beating up poor sods because violence is always the answer. ;) Baha…ha…ha. Er… not really. And sorry for the curt ending. This chapter was originally going to be longer, but I believe what happens next really deserves its own space. **

**Thank you for reading, as always. :) **


	29. Twenty-Nine

**A/N: "Anything that can go wrong, _will_ go wrong." –Murphy's Law. I think that pretty much sets the stage for the next couple of chapters. Gawd, so much exaggerated drama! **

**Thank you all again for your reviews and your readership! :)**

xXx

TWENTY-NINE

xXx

**T**he academic heart of Kyoto glared below him, the bright lights of streetlamps and bars strewn like specks of salt against a slab of black pavement. A chilling breeze swept overhead, ruffling the ends of his hair as he stared down at the city from Ryo's apartment balcony. He had been out there a good fifteen minutes and had yet to feel the least bit cold.

His hands gripped the metal railing of the balcony, his fingers wanting to do nothing but wring the bars free. With a grunt, he released the railing when the metal remained cold and unmoving, and he shifted his glare upwards towards the midnight sky. Pale lavender clouds covered most of the surface. The superficial gleam of city lights made it near impossible to notice any stars. He saw perhaps one, though it was quickly smothered by a passing cloud.

Tai felt strangely nostalgic. Once again he was reminded of stargazing with Hana—how clearly everything could be seen the nights they searched for the center of the galaxy, when, now, the cosmos seemed blurred to him, hidden for the most part and visible only in glimpses so fleeting that they could be mistaken for tricks of the mind—mere hallucinations.

"What the hell have you done to me, Hana?" Tai murmured into his palm. He wiped his hand over his tired face. "God, I'm punching your boyfriend one second and the next I'm looking all cow-eyed at the sky." He groaned into his hands, his anguish prematurely terminated when he heard the glass door to the balcony slide open and shut with a click.

Tai spun around, his agitation reanimated at the arrival of an unwanted witness. His intruder spoke.

"I suppose I deserve this, right?"

Ryo stood a good distance from Tai, half of his face vaguely swollen from the earlier assault. His hands were in his pockets, his posture minutely poor as he kept his blue stare aimed at Tai.

_Hell yeah, you do_, Tai thought. He returned Ryo's glare."What do you want?" he spat.

The hard line that was Ryo's mouth kicked up into a smirk.

"Tai, I told you I wanted to talk to you. Just because you've given me a black eye doesn't mean I'm going to forego our agreement."

"Then I didn't give you enough black eyes."

The smile vanished.

"Threaten and do all you want, Tai, but don't forget who you're dealing with. I could get you in a lot of trouble for this." He tapped his aching temple with a finger. "And unlike you, I try not to get involved in violence. It's messy."

"Then what the hell do you want from me?"

"I said it already. I want to talk."

Ryo approached, his leisurely pace putting Tai at unease. It wasn't everyday that a person he hit got right back up and walked up to him as if he were an old friend. Ryo Hiraki was certainly another species of human.

"I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and say that it was the alcohol working," Ryo said, resting his forearms on the balcony railing. "I hope you've sobered up enough to remember what I'm going to tell you, and even if you haven't, the subject of our conversation should be enough to keep your attention." The blue eyes that had been staring at the city below flicked sideways and caught the disgruntled expression on Tai's face. Ryo waited a moment and read in Tai's countenance a dislike for him that radiated out of his every pore.

"I want to talk about Hana," he said at last. "It's part of the reason why I asked Matt to invite you here. We need to talk to about her."

"Wait. _What?_ You _told_ Matt to invite me down here?"

Ryo snickered.

"Yeah, I did. What?" He read Tai's disgust at the fact with a grin. "Hana and I still talk—occasionally. I know more than you want to think I do."

A growl reverberated from the back of Tai's throat.

"I'm guessing she told you about how I made an ass of myself last week," he said through tight teeth.

"Yes, and it really didn't come as a surprise." Ryo shrugged, his nonchalance over the issue making Tai more uncomfortable. "Just because I'm on the phone in another room doesn't mean that I can't hear you asking her out to a ballet, Tai. The number of times she mentions you in conversations alone sends red flags up, and if I were the jealous type, we'd have a problem." He paused. Ryo's gaze left Tai, and he focused instead on his hands.

"But I'm not," he continued, his voice shockingly somber. "Sometimes I think I should be. Maybe if I was, I'd care more, but it's just not in me to be jealous. People are free to do what they want. People's feelings change. People themselves change. Jealousy is just another way of expressing an unwillingness to let go, to move on. It is an emotion that keeps you stagnant or makes you regress, neither of which I happen to like."

"Your point being?"

Ryo's face pinched. His lax fingers curled into fists, and instead of gradually easing into the core of his argument, he decided to take liberal leaps, bypassing critical information that would, perhaps, have saved him a lot of hate.

"I did _not_ cheat on Hana," he declared resolutely. His blue eyes looked directly at Tai, allowing the latter to see, for the first time, Ryo be passionate about something. "I did not," he repeated.

Tai wasn't buying his act.

"What do you mean you didn't cheat on her?" he retorted. "You and Hana are _still together_. You guys haven't broken up!"

The expression on Ryo's face did not change.

"What does that matter? A simple, 'I'm sorry. This isn't working out,' is petty. It's a trivial declaration made only to satisfy the need for closure even though both parties know that the relationship is beyond redemption."

The circuits in Tai's brain were running overtime, and the sparks of confusion were igniting, coupled with the fury that never quite left him.

"What the hell are you talking about!" he shouted. "There's a reason people break up—so that both of you know that it's _over_. _That's_ what it's for. That's what your petty little 'declaration' is for."

"Hana won't say it. She _won't_ let go, Tai. I've been planning on breaking up with her for a long time now."

"Then why haven't you?"

"Circumstance."

The cluelessness on Tai's face moved Ryo to elaborate.

"The right moment hasn't exactly presented itself. Hana's been proving to be very needy lately, and I understand that—what with her ballet production and everything, but I can't let it continue. I've been trying to give her every reason to break up with me, but it's like she excuses every mistake I make. I don't want to keep Elin in the dark anymore. I _need_ to cut my ties with Hana, Tai. I've done…" He hesitated. "… _a lot_—too much—behind her back already, and it's not fair to her." He paused. "And it's not fair to me, either."

"You selfish prick," Tai seethed. "If Elin meant so much to you, you should have broken up with Hana a long time ago—regardless of 'circumstance.'"

"It's not that simple, Tai," Ryo countered, his voice gathering edge. Daringly, he pointed a finger at the highschooler. "_Don't_ make the mistake of thinking that I don't care about Hana. _I do_. I've been her friend since we were kids. _Every _year I've flown out to see her. I owe a lot to her and vice versa. But I'm…"

He faltered, an act that Tai couldn't ever remember seeing Ryo do previously.

"I'm… _tired_," he said, his voice strained. "I'm _tired_ of doing everything—of always going out of _my_ way for _her_ sake, when she doesn't even _think_ to come visit me _once_. Any favor I ask of her she shuts down, says she's not ready, or ignores it completely. I mean, what am I supposed to think, Tai? That's she's not invested—_not_ in the relationship, and, ergo, definitely not in _me_. She just… I don't know… keeps me around because it's what she's used to. Maybe it's my fault that I conditioned her into thinking that I'd never abandon her, that I'd always be there for her, but what did I know? Her mom was dying. She was losing everything. The least I could do was let her know that she wouldn't lose _me_. Ever. But I can't do this anymore, Tai. Relationships are supposed to be reciprocal. Hana's just taken ours for granted."

Ryo sighed and rubbed his fingers agitatedly through his hair. His face rested in his hands as he sorted through his emotions.

"She likes the consistency," he said, significantly calmer. "Hana doesn't do well with change, believe it or not. She may put on the pretty face, but it's just a cover. And I don't think she finds me capable of change. My role in her life has stayed pretty constant, and she knows that. She depends on that. Her life _revolves_ around consistencies like that. She's comforted by the thought that no matter what happens to her, there will always be one thing in her universe that will not leave or die or change."

Tai looked south as Hana's own confession rang like bells within his empty skull.

'_I just needed something—__someone__—consistent in my life...'_

He leaned against the balcony railing, hands stuffed into his pants' pockets, head hanging in shame as he looked at Ryo. 

"And that's you," he said.

"Yeah," Ryo exhaled, none too thrilled at the acknowledgement. "That's me." He shook his head. "_No_," he corrected. "That _was _me. I'm not going to be her crutch anymore. I'm _not. _Look, I know we're not friends, Kamiya, but I'm telling you this—confiding in you, really—because I'm going to break up with Hana next weekend."

"W-What?"

For one second, Tai had finally understood Ryo and his motivations, and just as quickly, such understanding was obliterated.

"Are you _crazy_?" he exclaimed. "She's not exactly in the best state of mind to have her boyfriend break up with her. She's struggling to balance ballet and sch—"

"I _know_ that, Tai. I'm not stupid. But I can't wait any longer. I've reached the point where circumstance means little to me. Necessity dictates that I do this as soon as possible."

If Ryo was doing everything in his power to make Tai fling him off the balcony, it was working.

"Or what, asshole, you'll _explode_?"

"I don't need you to judge me, Tai. I didn't _plan_ on being unfaithful to Hana. You have to understand that we were placed in new environments miles away from each other. The novelty of it all couldn't be ignored." Ryo's blue eyes narrowed on Tai's visage, which remained angrily skeptical of his excuses. The college student's fingers curled into his palms, his jaw taut.

"What?" he said, resentfully. "You think my life is _easy_, Kamiya? You think this was an easy decision to make? University is no joyride, Tai. It's stressful—beyond what I could have ever imagined. And I'm not the kind of person who can get wasted every weekend to blow it all off."

"No," Tai shot back. "You just bang the girl closest to you."

Ryo's left eyelid twitched, the obvious goad almost provoking his temper to flare.

"_Don't_ assume you know what's gone on between me and Elin, Tai," Ryo growled.

"I think I can guess as much," Tai parried.

Ryo blew out a puff of air, laughing bitterly afterwards.

"You think you have me all figured out then, Kamiya?" he jeered. "Fine. I admit it then. There's no point in hiding the truth, least of all from you. Yes, I slept with Elin. Yes, I _sleep_ with her. But don't go around calling _me_ the asshole, Tai. You're story is not so different from mine."

He took a step forward, compelling Tai to inch backwards, stopped only by the balcony railing.

"When I met Elin," Ryo continued, almost wistfully, "she was fresh off the plane from Sweden. I couldn't help but be infatuated by her. She was so different. Her vision so original. And aside from studying art, she _is_ a piece of art herself. You can't just ignore beauty like that. It eats at you." The blue eyes scrutinized Tai's nonplussed expression, a thin smirk surfacing on Ryo's face.

"And you _know_ that feeling, Tai," Ryo said softly. "You feel it for Hana. You're attracted to her because she's different from anyone you've met. The things she says, the things she does, even the tiny minutiae of her very being. They all speak to parts of you—your body, your mind, your soul—that have never been touched in that manner. She _hits_ you in your very core," he said, jabbing Tai in the chest with his fore and index fingers. "_That's_ the effect Elin has on me. Emotion like that you can't contain. It _needs_ to be expressed, and I can't do that with Elin if I'm still fettered to Hana."

Tai's brown eyes narrowed, a large part of him still tempted to push Ryo aside and pound him into the concrete—not just because he was a two-timing bastard, but also because he had the nerve to dissect his feelings for Hana as if he were some mental patient. But his arms felt like phantom appendages, present but useless. Ryo's analysis of his relationship with Hana made him feel like a nerve exposed: vulnerable, but on the cusp of detonating.

"Then… then why tell me this?" Tai sputtered.

Ryo eased back, the omniscient grin never lifting.

"Because the fact that you know what I'm going to do gives you the chance to warn Hana. I'm not doing this for your benefit, Tai. I'm doing it for hers. Hana listens to you. And you… well… you care about her, probably more than I do at the moment."

Tai blinked, his eyebrows furrowing as the reality of Ryo's plans dawned on him. He suddenly regretted ever agreeing to speak with the college student, but that had been Ryo's intent all along. "_I just want to talk_." It was the perfect guise—simple, noncommittal, of no immediate consequence. Tai might have been dense in several other respects, but he was smart enough to know when he had been tricked. Ryo had artfully bestowed unwanted knowledge onto him, burdened him with the truth. Rage pumped renewed in his veins.

With a snarl, he pushed Ryo back.

"I'm _not_ going to do your dirty work for you. This is something _you_ need to tell her. You leave me out of it!"

"I'm not forcing you to do anything," Ryo insisted, unfazed by Tai's increasing ire. "You have the choice not to tell Hana a _single thing_. But now that you know, I wonder, just how long can you hold out before you're compelled to tell her what's going to happen? Don't you see, Tai? I'm making it very plain who will be her hero and who will be her villain."

A spark flashed in Tai's eyes, and without thinking, he had Ryo's expensive shirt collar in his grasp.

"Don't patronize me," he said. "I'm _not_ going to tell Hana you're going to break up with her. I'm _not_ going to be the one to tell her that you've been screwing someone behind her back. Those words need to come out of _your_ sorry mouth. _Not_ mine." He released Ryo from his grip, disgusted with his cowardice. "I don't care if you set me up like the guy she'll rebound to. I don't care if you end up as the bad guy. It doesn't matter. In the end you get what you want: your breakup and a clean conscience to go screwing whoever you want, while the girl that _I_ care about is left in shambles."

He gave Ryo one last deserved shove.

"It doesn't matter who 'wins,'" Tai said, "because in the end, it's Hana who loses."


	30. Thirty

xXx

THIRTY

xXx

**S**he was five when her mother had decided to officially enroll her in a ballet class. Her mother had been coaching her privately since she was three, but at some point decided that Hana would benefit from group instruction, especially because she expressed a surprising propensity for the art form at her young age. She was never told her that her mother had enrolled her in order to see, for herself, how she would measure against other dancers—to have her first taste of ballet's inherent competitiveness, as it were.

When her mother had taken her into the metro car dressed in a pink leotard and white tights, her dark hair done up in a tight bun, stiff from numerous coatings of hairspray, she wasn't expecting to be brought to a brightly lit studio filled with other children just like her—girls crimped and painted like porcelain dolls, boys clean and smelling of baby powder, all of them present because they showed promise or interest in becoming dancers.

One glance at her classmates seated cross-legged against the studio wall, and Hana clawed at her mother's thin, bony legs, hiding her face in her pants' fabric, tiny, plump fingers refusing to pry away from the woman who was both mother and teacher to her.

"_Écoute, ma chèrie_," her mother had said to her. _Listen, my dear._ She knelt down so that she was at her eye level, blue eyes smiling. "_Pourquoi as-tu peur?_" _Why are you afraid? _She pointed a finger at one of the children already seated, a boy leaning back, obviously bored. "_C'est Ryo. Ton ami_." _There's Ryo. Your friend. _Her mother poked her nose with a finger before waving at Ryo, Hana mimicking the act when she recognized the red-haired boy.

She remembered Ryo perking up when he saw her, his blue eyes brightening at her sight. Hana never knew until later that her mother had persuaded Ryo's mother, Madame Ivette Hiraki, to enroll him in the same class simply for the sake of giving her a friend in her new weekly lessons.

Whether it was maternal intuition or divine insight, the late Mrs. Fleur Kurosawa understood the needs of her daughter well. She couldn't give Hana the sibling that would combat the everyday loneliness and pressure often associated with only children, and so the least she could give her was a friend who would be a willing and capable substitute.

Ryo hadn't lasted long in the class, but he had stayed long enough to help Hana adjust, to point out to other students how beautiful she danced even though she was but five, to ensure that she had both friends who admired her and enemies who were jealous of her budding talent.

When he had quit the class, she felt his absence only briefly, in the way a child would regret the loss of a toy only to be distracted by another just as, if not more, entertaining. Even at five years old Hana had known that Ryo was bad at the art. As much as she would have liked him to continue lessons with her, there would be no point if she advanced and he tarried behind. There could be no joy in keeping him where he did not want to be, no reward in tying him to a hobby he despised.

As she aged and moved to France, she was enrolled in other classes, no longer worried or afraid of her dancing peers. If she had doubts, she received overseas encouragement from Ryo, who reminded her that she had done too much to turn back. He was also the one who had pointed out to her that she had owed too much of her progress to her mother; and it would only be a shame if she abandoned her passion because of an injury, or bullying, or a rival dancer.

"Never let trivial things get in the way of your success, Hana," he had told her often in their phone conversations. "They're like tiny fires—they have the potential to light your path, keep you on track, or they can blow everything up in your face if you give them more fuel than they need."

After her mother's death, Hana wondered if her passing was a 'trivial thing,' as Ryo had called so many events in her life: the time she had wept after a ballet competition because she had messed up on stage, when her father had gotten lost on a hike in the Alps, the many times her mother complained of incessant migraines. All of it had been deemed inconsequential to Ryo.

But her mother's death had been the catalyst that sparked a series of changes that she had no control over and no grasp to comprehend. It was what moved her to Japan, and, consequently, what placed her in the precarious limbo between the hells that were high school and professional ballet. It was what placed Tai Kamiya in her path. It was the dense, compact point in the timeline of her life to which she could trace everything back.

It couldn't have been a 'trivial thing,' even if she shrugged it off as one, even if she wished that she could treat her mother's passing with a cold acceptance cultivated only by the passage of time. Yet, it was an obstacle nonetheless, a flame that she had fed with an overflow of regret. It weighed on her like a ball of lead, heavy and shifting but always present.

She only felt its weight lift when Tai was with her, when he treated her fuss over ballet with a disinterested shrug, laughed at her for her constant worrying, scolded her for her lack of trust. Everything that mattered to her meant less to him simply because he was unaware of the history behind their import. He couldn't trace her troubles back to her mother's death, and he didn't try. All he could do was show her what Japan had to offer, what _he _had to offer her. He had, unintentionally, (or, perhaps, naturally), helped her move on, and she had rewarded him for his assistance with denial.

On the evening he had confessed his feelings to her, she had returned home unsure of what to feel and irritable because of her confusion. Her father had been home when she had burst through the door, chucking off her boots in the process before stomping over to her bedroom. He had asked her if everything was all right. In typical teenage fashion, she had harshly barked back, "Just leave me alone!" before she slammed shut her bedroom door.

All she could think about was Tai. Tai coming by when she was sick. Tai letting her sleep at his house. Tai kissing her head at the club. Tai touching her burned hand so many months ago. Every wonderful thing he had ever done for her played repeatedly in her head, making her realize, all the more, just how terribly she had wounded him and made herself all the worse for it.

His accusation pealed within the boundaries of her skull like bell tolls, making her wonder if she had really allowed herself to be blinded by complacency. Had she taken advantage of his interest because he was always there, or because she _wanted_ him to always be there? Did she delight in his company because she delighted in _him_ or because he did what Ryo _should_ have done for her? She didn't know.

All she understood was that she had successfully driven Tai out of her life, as if she wasn't already estranged from Ryo, her old home, her mother. It was a distance she had long endured quietly, suppressing the strain it had on her with the hope that it would disappear if she didn't talk about it, even with her own father. But evidently, it hadn't. Containing it all and deluding herself with imagined progress only allowed it to build beneath her façade, until the truths spilled from Tai's mouth cracked the surface and exposed her fully to her pain.

That night she had openly wept to her father, sputtering useless wishes to return to their old lives in France, for Ryo to visit her as he always had, for her mother to be alive. She had wished it all, tears spilling from her eyes, snot running over her aching jaw, conscious of her ingratitude for what she _had_ been given. But she couldn't help it. Tai had unmasked her trickery, showed her for what she was, and she capitalized on it, making herself _feel_ wretched because she _was_ wretched, at least to him.

The only immediate remedy she found was to immerse herself in the only activity she could: ballet, and even that refuge lost its appeal. The duress of _The Sleeping Beauty's _fast-approaching debut infiltrated her mind, which already felt flayed, stretched, and fragmented since Tai's confession.

One afternoon, Ren caught her loitering in a bathroom stall, back leaning against the metal door, looking as if she could collapse to the floor at any second.

"You all right, Kurosawa?" she asked.

Hana wiped her nose with the back of her hand and attempted to quiet her snivels as she exited the stall.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said.

"Bullshit."

Ren crossed her arms and studied the teenaged dancer for a moment before turning around and taking a pack of cigarettes out of her duffel bag. With a lighter in one hand, Ren went over to the bathroom door and locked it.

"Come on, Han. Spit it out. What's bothering you? You're looking really spacey lately. Max swears you're a complete zombie during lifts."

Hana rubbed her forehead vigorously.

"Maybe this whole ballerina thing was harder than I thought it would be," she murmured.

Ren snorted, not in the least bit convinced by the answer but accepting of it anyway.

"Welcome to your future," she said dryly. She took a generous inhale of smoke before offering the cigarette to Hana. "And it's not just a 'thing' as you call it, Han. It's an entire way of living. Ballet _is_ your life."

_Of course it's my life. What do you think I've been doing since I was three?_, she thought bitterly. The subtle sweetness of the burning cigarette before Hana intoxicated her weary brain. She shook her head.

"Suit yourself."

Ren brought the cigarette back to her red lips, seating herself on the sink counter.

"You're trying to do something no one can do, Hana," Ren continued. "You _can't_ have a normal education like Tai and your other friends _and_ a career in ballet." Hana flinched at the mention of the name. "It's impossible," Ren went on. "I don't know why the hell your parents agreed to put you through such torture. You need to pick a side and be done with it."

"It was my mother's idea," Hana parried, as if blaming her current misfortune on a decision made a decade ago would help her feel any better. "She didn't want me to be like her, to be the product of a 'ballet school.' To live, eat, and sleep ballet. She wanted me to have a normal kid's life—at least partially."

Her fellow dancer remained skeptical, peering at her through the haze of smoke jetting out of her thin nose. Hana grunted.

"What do you want me to tell you, Ren? This is how I've lived my life since I was five. You can't just tell me to pick a side. It's not that simple." Even as she spoke, Hana knew her defense was petty, shallow. Yet, despite it, she strangely felt as though she was talking about more than just choosing between ballet and school.

"I didn't say it was going to be," Ren replied calmly. "But you're going to have to choose sooner or later, Hana. I can see it in your face. Trying to have both is breaking you to pieces."

She finished off her cigarette and threw the burnt end into the sink, picking her duffel up off the floor afterwards.

"You call me if you need anything, Kurosawa," she said gently. She set a hand on Hana's bony shoulder, brown eyes glossing over the haggard face, the tired, sparkless eyes, the sunken cheeks. She sighed. "Look after yourself."

She went for the door and paused, turning back.

"And, um… those tickets for opening night you requested? All… _thirteen _of them? Well, Nakamura has them ready. I suggest picking them up before she gives them away to somebody else."

"Thanks," Hana murmured, watching Ren exit.

She delayed leaving the bathroom for a few minutes longer, wishing that she had told Ren the truth about what was going on in her life. For a moment, she had pulled out her cell phone, her thumb hovering over the number that would speed-dial her to Ryo Hiraki, but she never made the call. The last time she had spoken to him was to tell him about Tai's confession, and even then his advice to her fell flat.

"You're friends, Hana," he had told her, almost flippantly. "If he really cares about you as much as he said he does, then you'll end up talking again. Don't sweat about it."

She had accepted his counsel with a nod of the head and a meek, "All right," but couldn't apply his wisdom to her present situation. She went to sleep worrying about her ruined friendship with Tai. Catching glimpses of him in school made her sick to her stomach. The absence of someone had never been felt so strongly—at least not recently. The last time she experienced the feeling was when her mother had died.

Hana sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, attempting to bring herself back to the present. When next she opened her eyes, she caught a prime look at Ren's burnt, wet cigarette stub lying solo in the bathroom sink. To stare at it only made her nauseous, and she picked up her ballet gear and headed out of the restroom.

Her steps took her to Nakamura's office so that she could pick up the tickets she had requested—tickets she planned on giving to her friends, Tai included. The ballet director was not present when she arrived, but the tickets were laid out on her desk with a note for Hana, as if she expected the young ballerina to stop by. Hana quickly picked the tickets up and counted them before putting them in her duffel bag, her green eyes catching sight of a few papers on Nakamura's desk in the motion.

They were part of an application to enroll in the ballet school. Frowning, Hana recalled Ren's words to her, about picking a side before she suffocated under the pressure of both. She didn't know if the application was intended for another dancer, but Hana didn't care.

"You always said ballet was a choice, _maman_," she said to herself. "Well, I'm choosing."

She pilfered the forms up from Nakamura's desk and hurriedly left, afraid that if she spent any more time in the academy building, she'd change what was already decided in her mind.

xXx

**A/N: Okay. So, you haven't left Teenage Angstville _just_ yet. But important things are coming. Good and bad. Thank you all again for reading this story. :) Your reviews and attention really do keep me inspired to finish this tale once and for all. **

**Oh, and if I time my updating right, December will be a _very_ eventful month. ;) **

**Gosh, I am so evil. XD **


	31. Thirty-One

**A/N: So, here is the first step to Tai and Hana healing the breach. Next chapter is… _sort of…_ a doozy. I say 'sort of' because, well, you'll find out in this chapter. And Mimi comes soon! Hurray! **

**Happy reading!**

xXx

THIRTY-ONE

xXx

"**T**hat's really what he told you?"

Concern spread over Sora's features. Her right hand promptly went up to her lips.

"Yeah, that's what that jackass said," Tai replied. "I don't know what to do." He leaned against a row of lockers, running a hand through his hair. School had just been let out, and the hallways were empty of most studious souls.

Sora chewed her bottom lip, her mind having difficulty registering everything that Tai had just told her about what happened in Kyoto. She always thought Ryo was a decent guy—friendly enough and smart, but glib. Sure, he and Hana argued, but no relationship was perfect. She just never imagined him to be so cruel as to, firstly, cheat on her, and, secondly, break up with her the week before the premiere of _The Sleeping Beauty_.

"I mean, what _can_ I do?" Tai continued, his back sliding down a locker as he sat himself on the tiled, linoleum floor. "Hana and I aren't talking anymore and even if we were, what would I say to her? 'Hey, your boyfriend and best friend of ten years is going to break your heart this Friday night. Want to talk about it over coffee?'"

Sora remained silent for a time, trying her best to be of use. She knelt down by Tai.

It hadn't escaped her notice that Hana, too, was out of sorts. The girl was caught sleeping in class. She shook her head sadly when the teacher came around collecting homework. She even came in one day with a bandage around her ankle, saying that she had slipped during practice one evening and nearly made Nakamura have a conniption. Sora wanted to help her, to pull her aside and ask her what was wrong, but Hana had dodged the issue. She'd talk about anything else _but _what was bothering her.

Now, Tai had revealed to her that Hana would be given another disaster, one he could possibly prevent, and if not prevent, then at least make less stressful.

"Well," Sora began, "weigh the pros and cons of each side. If you tell Hana what Ryo has planned, at least she can prepare herself for it, maybe even break up with him before he does it to her. If you keep it inside, Ryo will be forced to take responsibility for his actions."

"You forget that telling Hana about it is letting Ryo get off easy," Tai grumbled. "I want that jerk to admit to Hana that he's been cheating on her, and he won't do that if Hana's already accepted the break-up by the time he arrives. He just wants me to do his dirty work. He—"

"Tai," Sora interrupted, setting a hand on his shoulder. "Maybe you need to stop putting Ryo's best interests forward and start focusing on Hana's. I'm pretty sure no matter what you decide, Ryo is going to continue doing whatever he plans on doing, but it's Hana who is going to go through more changes."

His brown eyes glimpsed at her gentle face. He sighed as his shoulders slumped under the weight of her sagely advice.

"So what are you saying, Sora?" he asked tentatively.

She looked to the ground.

"Maybe you need to tell Hana what you know, Tai."

He scoffed a bit, upset that his oldest friend only confirmed for him that the best course of action also happened to be the most difficult. He could never win.

"Is that what you would do?" he asked, after giving her words a second thought. He smiled faintly, glad that Sora hadn't stopped being his confidant, even if she did stop being his girlfriend.

"I honestly can't answer that, Tai. _But_, speaking as a girl, I know that that is exactly what I'd want to hear. I don't need to know everything that my boyfriend does, but I'm pretty sure I'm entitled to know the truth."

He chuckled lightly.

"I don't think you'll ever have to worry about that, Sora," he said, getting up from the floor.

She raised an eyebrow at him, prompting him to elaborate as he helped her onto her feet.

"Even if Matt was swarmed by hot college girls in Kyoto, he introduced himself the same way to all of them. 'Hi, I'm Matt Ishida, lead singer of the Teenage Wolves, and I have an awesome girlfriend. So the only things I'll be accepting tonight are autographs. All other requests can be directed to Yutaka, Takashi and Akira.'"

Sora laughed, her giggling mouth getting covered with a hand, her brown eyes sparkling with glee.

Matt found them snickering amongst themselves in the hallway shortly after, confused over their laughter.

"What's so funny?" he asked in greeting, coming up to Sora.

She turned to meet him, readily wrapping an arm around his slim torso and grabbing his chin.

"You're amazing, you know that?" she said, before she planted a soft kiss on his lips.

Tai had a hard time checking his chortles at the look of shock on Matt's face, and when Sora had released him and the trio went to exit the school, Matt glanced back at Tai, mouthing:

"What'd you _do_?"

Tai only shrugged.

"Well, whatever you did, Kamiya," Matt whispered. "I like it."

Sora could hear him clearly and laughed. He was speaking right by her head, after all.

"He just told me the truth, Yama," she said, using his rarely heard pet name. She turned to Tai and gave him a wink. "Sometimes that's all a girl really wants to hear."

xXx

Deciding to tell Hana that Ryo was, in fact, a two-timing, good-for-nothing bastard was an accomplishment in and of itself, but planning _how_ to tell her the truth was a completely different endeavor. Trying to arrange how and when to approach her, and where to have their private discussion was fracturing Tai's brain. He just kept thinking that Hana was off limits—taboo—now that she had made it plain that she didn't want him and probably never would. He didn't want to be the kicked puppy that returned to its abusive master. Hana had caused him pain and he wanted to avoid further heartbreak, but Sora and Matt kindly reminded him that it wasn't his heart that was on the line anymore.

It was hers.

Already Tai had counted how many times he'd seen her in the hallways but refused to pull her aside or say hello. They were well into the two-digits, and with only one more class to go before the bell rang, he knew that this was his last chance. It was already Wednesday. Ryo would be coming down Friday night to drop his break-up bomb. Hana didn't go to school on Thursdays. Tai couldn't hold back any longer.

He spotted Matt waiting for him at the entrance to their last class for the day and walked over to him, trying not to seem too distracted as he searched the horde of moving students for Hana's signature white headband.

"You find her yet?" asked Matt.

"No," said Tai irritably. "Every other class switch I see her almost right away, and now, when I need to find her the most, she goes missing. I'm starting to think this whole waiting-it-out idea is a heaping pile of—"

"Tai?"

His heart plummeted into his gut when his uttered name hit the back of his head. He spun around, brown eyes wide and uncertain when they took in the image of Hana standing embarrassedly behind him. She tucked some loose strands of her hair behind her ear.

"Ha—"

She cut him off.

"I don't have a lot of time to talk, Tai," she said nervously. "But before the warning bell sounds and everyone rushes to class, I was wondering if… if I could… if _we _could, actually, talk … um… sometime later today?"

His answer escaped his lips before he even knew what he was saying.

"Yeah. Sure. What time? Where?"

"Um… Eight? The ramen-ya we—"

It was his turn to cut her short.

"Yeah." He shrugged nonchalantly. "Of course."

"Okay. I'll see you…?"

"… there?" he finished, amazed at how ridiculous the both of them sounded. He shook his head slightly. "I'll be there."

"Yeah." Hana inched backwards, trying hard to keep herself from smiling at Tai and failing at it. She bumped into someone and stumbled backwards, regaining balance in time before she fell on her bum and afforded everyone within a six foot radius of her a perfect view of her underpants.

Tai stared at her, amused, and she laughed cheaply, the heat already invading her cheeks. Humiliation provided her with enough clarity to stop gawking at the big-haired soccer captain and to focus on getting to class. The warning bell rang as she scurried down the hallway, and Tai watched her leave with a mix of wonder and confusion, unaware that Hana had left with similar feelings, a hand pressed to her chest to quiet her racing heart.

xXx

**A/N: Yay! They're talking again! Awkwardly! Progress. It has been made. XD **

**Also, I'm thinking about taking down my one-shot "Handprints." It's rather… spoilerific, and I'd like to leave the rest of Tai and Hana's relationship (_if_ it ever gets to that stage. hahaha) a mystery. So, unless taking it down will cause a riot (which it won't), I'll be removing it some time next week. **

**Anywho, sorry for blabbing so much. Thank you, as always, for reading! :)**


	32. Thirty-Two

**A/N: Did I mention that I'm fond of this chapter? I didn't? Well… now you know! **

**And I also like how I offer my chapters to you all as if they were nutritious meals. **

**Enjoy! XD**

xXx

THIRTY-TWO

xXx

**H**er ears were red and raw from the scrape of the winter wind. In her hurry from ballet practice, she had forgotten her hat. Stupidly, she had gone back to retrieve it, only to turn around half way when she realized she would miss her metro ride to Odaiba. By then, she was already late, and even though she caught a tram back to her home district, her watch told her that a certain big-haired teenage boy was probably waiting for her, thumbs twiddling on his lap as the fuse of his patience shortened.

She burst into the ramen house with flushed cheeks, her backpack and duffel bag hanging like wrecking balls from her twiggy limbs. Her hair was a fine display of disorder, the long, straight strands frayed and tousled by the night's frosty fingers. Ignoring the bemused looks on the restaurant staff, she sought out Tai's face and located him seated at a table by a window, head bowed as he toyed with his mobile phone.

"I'm sorry I'm late," she said breathlessly as she approached him, her heartbeat increasing in tempo. She didn't know if it was due to her running all the way to the ramen-ya or because, for the first time in her life, Tai Kamiya was making her unbearably nervous.

Tai looked up from his phone screen, brown eyes expressionless as he gazed up at her.

"I didn't keep you waiting too long, I hope?" she continued, when he hadn't said anything. Her palms began to sweat. Blood rushed to her head. If he didn't speak within the next few seconds, Hana swore her forehead would smack onto the floor.

"No," he said simply, putting his cell phone away. He gestured for her to sit, as she looked stupid standing by their table. "It gave me enough time to order food so that it would be here in time for your arrival."

Hana smiled weakly, aware what the disguised complaint revealed. It meant that she had kept him waiting at least fifteen minutes.

She was about to issue another apology when their waitress snuck up behind her and chirped, "Pot of green tea?" A panicked Hana quickly shuffled out of the way, tripping over her feet in the process and promptly falling into her chair. Tai suppressed a chuckle.

"Your food should be out shortly," the waitress informed them, smiling a tad too broadly as Hana collected her bearings.

"_His_ food, maybe," said Hana. "I kind of just blew threw the door a few seconds ago—literally."

"Oh, no," cheerfully replied the waitress. "He ordered for you."

"He wha—?"

"A large _shōyu_ ramen, with scallions, spinach, one egg, double the slices of beef, bean sprouts on the side, extra black pepper, and absolutely, positively _no_ _menma_." She read from the leaflet on which the order was written, taking a large breath after it had been all been said. "Does that sound correct?"

Hana gawped openly up at the waitress. She had to use her sleeve to wipe the drool that was about to spill over the corner of her mouth.

"Um… yes. Thank you."

With a short bow and another perky smile, the waitress left, leaving Hana's mind thoroughly scrambled.

"That was..." She cleared her throat as she watched Tai pour himself and her each a cup of hot tea. "…impressive."

"Yeah, I know," said Tai, bringing the cup to his lips. "Just wait until you hear her recite all of _my_ order."

Hana snickered faintly.

"No, I meant…" She stared blankly into her steaming tea. "How do you even know all of that?"

His brown eyes stared at her over the rim of his tea cup, their gaze almost skeptical.

"Hana, we've kind of eaten here a thousand times since I've known you. I think it'd be more embarrassing if I _didn't_ know how you liked your noodles by now."

She smiled meekly, appreciative of the fact that he was being chipper, especially considering that their last real conversation ended on a sharp, painful note.

"I guess you're right," she murmured. Gingerly, she sipped at her beverage, trying to delay her true purpose for wanting to see and talk to him. In short, she missed him.

It was a fact she was unwilling to admit to herself, let alone anyone else. Most nights, she fell asleep thinking about him, wondering how his life was going, if the wound on the back of his head had left a scar, if he still hated her. Such thoughts persisted into the morning, and while she wasn't aware that Tai was invading every figment of her imagination, she _did_ notice that her friends and family were worried about her. Sora had continuously asked her if everything was all right, and Emi, Ren and Max astutely pointed out that something was off with her, as if her mind wasn't entirely focused on the present, half of it lost and wandering the endless bounds of space.

Her father was beginning to come home late due to the extra office hours he was providing for his students now that the semester was coming to a close. She didn't want to trouble him with her problems, especially because when they finally saw each other at the end of the day, they were both so tired that simple speech became an arduous labor.

Her only other confidant was Ryo, and often times she would get as far as dialing his number and waiting on her end for him to pick up only to hang up before his voicemail came on. Talking to her distant boyfriend wouldn't make her feel any better about Tai—or how the rest of her life was fairing. There was only one person she wanted to speak to, but her hands shook when the possibility of calling him crossed her mind.

_He wouldn't want to talk to you anyway, Hana,_ she had told herself. _You turned him down, remember? Shut the door in his face. Said 'No, I don't want you. No, I don't even like you.' You __lied__ right to his face. _

It was only after she had spoken with Matt and Sora, asking them if they would like to see _The Sleeping Beauty,_ that her mettle was renewed.

"He won't bite, Hana," Sora had encouraged.

"Unless you bite first," Matt added dourly. Hana was certain that he still hadn't forgiven her for rejecting his best friend, though his girlfriend reminded him of his petty grudge with an elbow in the ribs.

Hana had firmly doubted that Tai would ever agree to speak to her again, yet there he was, sitting opposite her at a table, looking as if he bore no ill feelings for her, as if the night he looked her in the eyes and poured his heart out to her had never happened.

Their dinner was brought out during the awkward silence that befell them, and once the bowls were placed and chopsticks were being pulled out of their sleeves, Tai couldn't check his tongue any longer. That, and the silence separating him and Hana was driving him crazy.

"So why'd you want to talk to me?" he asked, playing it off as an idle question.

_Because I always like talking to you,_ Hana thought to herself.

"I… um… I just…" Her stomach felt like it was churning acid, and she had to set her chopsticks down and stop looking at her food. "So this… _ballet_ thing of mine that's been going on for the past few months…"

"Yeah?" He raised an eyebrow at her as he shoveled in a waterfall of noodles, speaking while he chewed. "What about it?"

"It, you know, usually means that there's a production that'll debut sometime at the end of the practices and bleeding toes and the endless rehearsals…"

"Hmm. You don't say?"

He smirked. Hana smiled grimly, her cheeks turning pink. She wanted to reach over and wipe away a noodle on his chin.

"Yes, well… I seem to recall, not too long ago, that you might be interested in seeing a ballet…"

_Only with you_, Tai added inwardly.

"I _sort of_ remember," he said.

"Well, I'm here to offer you a chance to have that interest become a reality."

She pulled from her coat pocket a rectangular slip of paper, sliding it across the table and parking it by his ramen bowl.

"I was wondering if you'd like to see _The Sleeping Beauty_. The ticket is complimentary. I managed to wheedle some freebies out of Nakamura, and, if…if you're all right with it, I would… I would love to have you see your first ballet."

Tai paused in his eating and picked the ticket up. His sarcasm could only take him so far, even though it was employed to help Hana shake out her nerves. Still, it was an earnest request that deserved just as honest an answer.

"Um… yeah, Hana," he said. "I'd like that."

"Really?" she gasped, her eyes brightening. "B-Because you don't _have_ to just because I'm dancing in it, or just because the ticket is free, or just beca—"

"I'll go. Relax." He stowed the ticket in his pants' pocket, his eyebrows furrowing only after he had finalized his decision.

"Everyone else is going, aren't they?" he asked.

Hana poked absentmindedly at the hard-boiled egg floating in her soup.

"…Yes," she said quietly.

"And I was last on the list?"

"…Yes. I hope you don't… you know… take it personally or anything. Just with what happened…"

"N-No," Tai interrupted, scratching his head. "I guess… well, now I know why no one wanted to go see a movie with me next weekend. They were all set on seeing you dance."

"I always did plan on asking you, Tai," she said softly, risking a glimpse at him. "I just… with what went on between us, I was…" She sighed. "… _scared_. But, I'm glad. I'm really glad that you agreed to talk to me."

"That makes two of us," he murmured, meeting her gaze for a second before turning back to his food.

"What was that?" she asked gently.

"N-Nothing… I, well, I needed to talk to you, too." He smiled half-heartedly. "You just beat me to the punch."

"Oh? What about?"

He pretended not to have heard her.

"Oh. I, um… How about we eat first? I'll tell you after dinner. I'm not a fan of cold ramen."

Conversation from that point onward oscillated between periods of intense silence and moments of petty small talk. Tai tried his best not to mention Ryo at all, and Hana, similarly, avoided dropping his name, though for different reasons. Now that she knew how Tai felt about her, she didn't want to cause him any more pain by constantly bringing up her boyfriend.

He told her instead that Mimi Tachikawa was arriving Friday to spend the holidays with her old Digidestined friends. Her parents wouldn't be joining her, and she had already made arrangements with the Izumi family to stay with them during her vacation. All of Izzy's excuses—staying at home to help his mom prepare their guestroom, conducting a web-meeting with an 'international colleague'—finally made perfect sense, and, if Hana did her math right, her computer whiz of a friend had been preparing for Mimi's arrival for weeks.

"I wonder why she didn't just end up staying at Sora's," Hana mused aloud.

"Sora's wondering that, too," said Tai. "She told me that when she first found out that Mimi might come to Japan for the holidays, she emailed her right away offering her their guestroom, but Mimi told her that she had that already taken care of—and that was all the way at the beginning of the summer, too."

"Sneaky Koushiro."

He laughed.

"Yeah. And it doesn't make sense. Izzy likes showing off his intelligence and Mimi just loves attention in general. But together, it's like they're worse than Sora and Matt."

"Well, I look forward to seeing her. And, now that I think about it, no wonder Izzy asked me for an extra ballet ticket. I guess he plans on taking her to the show."

They were still discussing the nuances in the hush-hush relationship between Izzy and Mimi after they had paid for their dinner and left the ramen house, the two of them slowly taking their time as they walked together in the bitter cold. Hana managed to keep herself from shuddering all the way to her neighborhood, but the blue of her lips and the flaking of her windburned cheeks didn't elude Tai's attention. When they reached the small park neighboring her apartment complex, he urged her to sit down on a bench and take a few moments to regain some heat. As usual, she was hesitant, but was persuaded to sit beside him.

He watched her as she breathed into her gloved hands, the breath escaping her leaking between the cracks of her fingers in ribbons of steam.

"So, Han…" he began, his heartbeat drumming loudly in his hears. This was his only chance to tell her what was going to happen once Friday arrived.

"Yes?" she wheezed through chattering teeth.

"I… Did Matt tell you that I, um, went to Kyoto with him last weekend?"

"No, but Sora mentioned it to me. Did you have a good time? You stayed at Ryo's place, right?"

"Yeah. We… uh… we had a long… _chat_—him and I."

He couldn't look at her. All of his nervousness was being channeled into him looking at his hands and wringing them.

"Huh. I hope he didn't pull the psychologist card on you. Ryo likes to do that. He didn't, you know, analyze your behavior or anything or tell you that you have some sort of mental disorder?"

Tai refused to answer the question. He still couldn't get over the fact that Ryo had read him like an open book.

"We talked about…" He winced. "…you."

The hands Hana kept cupped around her mouth were removed, her brows knitting.

"Me?"

"Yeah. I mean, he knows how I…"

"That much I knew, Tai. I…" She cast her stare down, guiltily. "I told him," she finished.

"Yeah, well… there's something else, Hana. Something you _don't_ know."

Her eyes widened and she turned toward him, her expression blank but grave. When Tai bravely soaked in her stare, he could almost sense the shaking of her body, the building desperation to know what it was he was hiding from her, rising steadily under the pressure of sealed ignorance.

"Hana, Ryo's…" The words were rolling backwards on his tongue, tumbling together, doing everything in their power to avoid being said, but he wouldn't do that to her. He wouldn't leave her out in the cold. With a sharp inhale, he held onto his breath and turned away from her. His lips parted to speak and the words were uttered in a cloud of mist.

"Your boyfriend is going to break up with you this Friday."

She thought she didn't hear him. She _wanted_ not to have heard him, but the truth of the matter was that she did—clearly, lucidly, like bells echoing in her ears. Regardless, her mind wouldn't accept it. Denial was the only proper reaction.

"What?" she croaked. "Why would—"

"He's been cheating on you, Hana," said Tai. "And by the looks of it…" He looked back down at the concrete floor. "… he has been for a long time."

She breathed in shakily, her body trembling no longer from the cold, but from shock. Saltwater pounded against her eyeballs, but she struggled to contain her tears.

"Why are you telling me this?" she cried. "Ryo _loves_ me, Tai. He'd never—why would he—"

"Hana," he said, wanting so badly to take her face in his hands and comfort her. "Believe me, I wondered the same thing."

"No." She inched away from him. "Ryo wouldn't do this. He's been there for me my _entire_ life. He can tell me _anything_. If there was something wrong, he would have told me, Tai. He would have… he… Oh, God… I can't… I _can't_…"

"Hana—"

He reached out to pull her close to him should she try to run away but never touched her. Her phone rang stridently in the silence of the park at night, and with quivering fingers, she retrieved it out of her coat pocket, her heart sinking when she read the name on the glowing screen.

_Ryo._

Against her better judgment, she flipped open her phone and pressed the receiver to her ear, sucking up her tears in the process.

"Hey," she said. Tai wiped his face with his hands, groaning subtly. He shifted in his seat so that he didn't look at her, but doing so didn't stop him from wondering what Ryo was telling her. Though, Tai had to admit that Ryo had disturbingly impeccable timing.

Her exchange with Ryo didn't last long. She snapped her phone shut less than a minute after he had called her, and Tai turned around slowly at the sound, fearing that Ryo had given her news she could no longer deny.

She looked like a ghost sitting slumped on her end of the bench, her phone lying like a lump of coal in the palm of her limp hand. A thick silence waved overhead, carried away by a chilling wind that made Hana's words echo when she at last decided to speak.

"Ryo's coming to see me this weekend," she said, her voice hollow. Her green eyes glistened with water as she raised her head to meet Tai's gaze. "Friday night, he said."

Before Tai could say anything, she pinched her eyes shut, her face grimacing in pain before she stood and gathered her things.

He reached out for the sleeve of her coat, as if, by keeping her close to him he could protect her from every form of harm that would ever come her way.

"Hana," he began, standing beside her. He didn't see her hands clench.

"Tai," she uttered sternly. She planted one of her balled fists against his chest, nudging him gently back. "Just don't." His brown eyes implored her to reconsider, but she resisted all the same. "Please," she said, her lips quivering.

His jaw tightened, his teeth at a near grind to keep himself from blabbing words that would mean nothing to her in retrospect.

"Okay," was all he managed to say; and he took the tight fist she had against his chest and easily spread open her curled fingers. He held her hand in his own only for the briefest second, squeezing it lightly, lending her strength in the only way she allowed him, before finally letting her go.

xXx

**A/N: Oh, Taichi, you're such a sweetheart. Hana, you're just an incurable idiot. All of that stress is going to have to be blown off, or something—or someone—is going to explode. Though, there _are_ other ways of stress relief. Ahem. ;) Stay tuned, and thank you for reading! **


	33. Thirty-Three

**A/N: Well… I guess I was alone in my opinion about the last chapter? :C Ah, well, can't please everyone, I suppose. I can only hope that you all continue to follow through with this story until its end, even if it is excruciatingly long, with lots of sexually frustrated moments. Damn. **

**This chapter is short because the next two will try your patience… and eyeballs. **

**Also, also, I do have something planned in light of the upcoming holidays. And this is my cue to wink suggestively at you all. Bahahaha!**

**With that said, thank you-thank you-thank you, always, for reading. :) **

xXx

THIRTY-THREE

xXx

**K**oushiro Izumi watched the jumbo jet land from his place in the waiting area, his face stone still but his heart pounding against his ribs. Nervousness was an emotion he was unfamiliar with, so when he felt it, as he did at that moment, he felt it at its most extreme.

"Relax, Izzy." He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Matt. "Everything will be fine."

"Geez. You're sweating bullets," Tai chipped in, resting his elbow on Izzy's other shoulder. "It's just Mimi."

"Speak for yourself, Tai," Matt grouched. "Or do I need to remind you—"

Izzy had long since drowned out their bickering. Passengers from the plane had begun exiting, and if he wasn't sweating bullets before, he certainly was now. One glimpse of her wavy, light brown hair moved him to abandon the company of his friends, and another peek at her smiling face hastened his steps.

"Izzy!" he heard her shout. Her hands dropped everything in her clutch—her carry-on bag, her purse, her pink travel pillow, her winter coat—and in the exiting stream of passengers, she found him.

"Mi—"

He never said her name. In a split second, he felt her arms around his neck, his feet nearly losing balance as he welcomed her.

"Easy there, you two," Matt laughed as he gave Izzy a well-needed nudge in the back. The computer genius tipped back forward, allowing Mimi to rest her feet back on the ground and save him the embarrassment of having both of them tumble unceremoniously to the floor.

"It's nice to see you, too, Matt," Mimi quipped, giving the young musician a brief hug. "I hope you're taking good care of Sora."

"Oh, don't worry. He is."

Sora emerged somewhere behind her boyfriend and came forward to greet her childhood friend, the two girls squealing and bubbling out giggles as they exchanged embraces. Last but not least in line to warmly welcome Mimi back to her native Japan was Tai, who, after hugging her, was asked, quite complacently:

"So… where is she?"

He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Who?"

"Oh, don't play coy, Tai," Mimi chided. "C'mon. Tell me where she's hiding." She proceeded to check around his person, going so far as to peek behind his back and even in his hair.

"Mimi, I have no idea what the heck you're talking about," he said, taking a hold of her shoulders and moving her a step away from him.

"Oh, really? You're going to pull this charade, Tai?" she replied, her eyes narrowing slightly. She whisked her head around to Matt. "Didn't you tell me—"

"Nothing!" Matt interrupted, realizing now what she was alluding to. The unnecessary loudness of his voice caused Sora to stare up at him strangely and for Tai to give him the evil eye. "I didn't say anything. Why would I say anything to you, Mimi?"

The girl squinted suspiciously at him.

"I swore you told me that Tai had a g—"

"Gastric ulcer!" he finished, laughing feebly afterwards. "Well, he's all better now, aren't you, Tai?" Matt shot the soccer captain a look, to which Tai replied with a mouthed:

"What the _hell_ are you doing, Yamato?"

Mimi turned to Tai, awaiting a confirmation.

"…Yeah. A gastric ulcer," he said, none too enthusiastically. "I'm sure _Matt_ can tell you all about my _gastric ulcer _on our way out the airport."

Mimi consented easily enough and shrugged before going back to pick up her things, Izzy and Sora accompanying her to the baggage claim area. Matt was in pursuit, but Tai grabbed his coat collar and yanked him back.

"So what _did_ you tell Mimi, Yamato?" he asked.

"There's no reason for you to get worked up, Taichi," Matt replied, brushing his hand off. "I just told her that you had a girlfriend."

Tai's glare intensified.

"I'm assuming by 'girlfriend,' that you had Hana in mind."

"… Yes," he said reluctantly. "I mean, honestly, Tai? Everyone thought it was going to happen. I didn't know she'd still cling to her lame-ass boyfriend and leave you in the dust. I thought there was no harm in telling Mimi."

Tai grunted.

"Just… _don't_ do it again. Don't bet on things like that. You'll just jinx it."

Matt chuckled.

"I didn't take you for the superstitious kind, Tai."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," he grumbled. "And I didn't think you were a gambling man, either." He gave Matt a friendly shove in the head, to which Matt responded with a tame punch in the arm. The boys were still at it, pushing and mindlessly insulting each other, when they reunited with Mimi, Izzy and Sora at baggage claim.

Mimi took one look at them and shook her head, smiling throughout.

"Two years and not a thing has changed," she declared.

She felt a nudge in her side and turned to see Izzy, who had accidentally elbowed her while heaving her pink luggage bag off the conveyor belt. Before he had even turned around, she hooked pinkies with him and swung his hand a bit, giggling when he raised an eyebrow at her for her frivolousness.

"Well, a _few_ things," she revised.

xXx

Hana was ready to receive him—or she thought she was. She continuously paced her living room, her slippered feet skidding over the polished wooden floors, her teeth frenziedly gnawing on her fingernails. Sometimes she'd sit down, put her head in her hands and inhale deeply three times in an effort to keep herself from hyperventilating, but her feet wouldn't rest. She'd just get up again and resume pacing the room.

Other times, she'd go to her _barre_ and mirror to try and refocus her nervous energy into ballet exercises, but even that could do little to quell her anxiety. One _plié_ and she was done, unable to gaze at her reflection, unable to look at the shelf full of her accolades and awards, and unable to sever the connection between her pointe slippers and her deceased mother.

Being stuck in her apartment, alone, stewing in apprehension, was driving her to a mental state short of genuinely crazy. Her only hope of rescue was in the form of Ryo Hiraki, whose upcoming arrival was both desired and despised.

Hana had just about reached her limit and was about to stumble into the bathroom to vomit her worries away when there was a knock on the front door. Freezing, she clumsily made way to the apartment entrance, her hands shaking terribly as she reached for the doorknob. They hesitated, her heart getting squeezed in her tightening chest.

"No," she told herself. She bit into her bottom lip.

Taking in a breath, she gripped the cold metal handle and gave it a sharp twist, her ears sensitive to the click of the releasing lock and the squeaking hinges of the parting door.

When next she blinked, there he stood opposite her, every part of him dripping with guilt. She wanted to do nothing but rage against him, beat him against the chest, wailing, "_No! Don't you even dare!_" but she couldn't. His blue eyes locked on hers and instantly knew the truth of her feelings, and, try as she might, Hana knew she could never hate him for whatever he had done to her—or, perhaps, what he did not do.

"Come in, Ryo," she said tiredly, stepping aside to let him pass.

He entered cautiously, suddenly feeling like a stranger in her home, as if all of the years they had been together as friends had been erased—meant nothing—when it came to that moment.

He wondered who would be the first to speak. Without Hana telling him anything, Ryo knew that Tai had warned her about his decision. Everything about her demeanor screamed that she knew what he was going to do, and so he hoped that she would speak first and be the brave one—the one to let him go.

The door shut behind him and he turned to face the girl whom he had cared for as a friend for forever but loved only briefly. Her green eyes were misted. Her lips trembled. A breath escaped her shakily. He waited one agonizing second, prepared to speak if she did not.

But the lips parted. The green eyes blinked the saltwater dry. And a solid breath was taken in, giving fuel to the words she never dreamed of saying.


	34. Thirty-Four

**A/N: Thank you for your readership and reviews! There are a lot of things that I tried to balance in this chapter, so if it's crap, I apologize. Happy reading. :)**

**Oh, and pay attention to the "tie/Tai" puns. ;) **

xXx

THIRTY-FOUR

xXx

**T**ai bolted out of his parents' car, one arm hauling his sister out with him while the other fussed with the tie corseting his neck. He plunged into the river of people entering the theatre, Kari's grip on his hand tightening. They squeezed past other theatre patrons, the two of them coming to a complete halt once they were within the theatre lobby.

"Holy cow…" Tai breathed.

His brown eyes stared wide-eyed as they soaked in the marvel before him. The venue was ablaze with light. Its radiance reflected off giant crystal chandeliers, off clinking wine glasses, off the expensive jewelry worn only by the most sophisticated of theatre goers. He blinked several times before he felt his sister tug on his hand, chuckling as she commenced to lead the way through the lobby so that they could locate the rest of their friends.

Tai continued to gaze around him in dizzying wonder, mindlessly making his way through the chattering flock of people. He moved perfectly enraptured, sensitive to the ubiquitousness of the standard black tux, the overpowering scent of a hundred different perfumes in the air, even the cushiness of the red sea of carpet spread out beneath his feet.

He could already feel perspiration leak into the starched fabric of his dress shirt. Instinctively, he slipped two fingers behind his stiff collar and pulled downwards in an obvious attempt to loosen his royal blue tie. He'd have done away with the superfluous accessory, but his mother insisted he wear it, especially because it wasn't his. On opening night of Hana's ballet, the one tie that Tai possessed had miraculously disappeared, and so the senior Mr. Kamiya had come to the rescue, offering his son the tie he had worn on his first date with the missus.

Still, Tai wished his mother hadn't wrapped it around his neck like a hangman's noose.

"Welcome to the _haute monde_," greeted Mr. Kurosawa as Tai and Kari found the rest of their party by the lobby bar. Just as Tai had anticipated, he and his sister were the last to arrive, no thanks to him. He had decided to take a 'quick' nap before getting ready for the night, and woke but less than an hour ago.

"The what, Mr. K?" Tai asked, shaking the older man's hand.

"High society," Kari explained. "It's truly beautiful."

"Extraordinary," Izzy observed, still looking about him in awe.

"Prodigious, you mean!" cried Mimi. She gave the computer whiz a poke in the side with her gloved hand. He blushed, prompting Mimi to giggle as she looped her arm through his and sent him a comforting smile.

"No doubt about that," Sora murmured, leaning into Matt as her eyes gazed upward at the sparkling chandelier reigning above them.

"Is this really the first ballet you've all been to?"

The question was voiced by someone Tai had not expected to see, and unconsciously, his hands clenched. Ryo Hiraki stepped forward from the neighboring crowd dressed in a tuxedo, another unanticipated guest hanging on his arm and still another unknown face coming up behind him.

"Not mine," said Mimi, casually. "This looks just about as extravagant as the New York City ballet's premiere of _Swan Lake._"

Before Ryo could reply, Mr. Kurosawa intercepted him, reading in the expressions of Tai and Kari some semblance of curiosity.

"Forgive me, Taichi, Hikari," said Mr. Kurosawa. Brother and sister cringed slightly at his use of their full names. They knew that manners were different now that they were in the '_haute monde,_' but the only other time they heard their proper names was when they were in trouble with their parents.

Mr. Kurosawa ushered Ryo and the two people with him forward.

"You all know Ryo of course, but this is his father, Mr. Masahiko Hiraki. He's a longtime family friend of ours. Hana even calls him Uncle Masa."

The senior Mr. Hiraki was a tall, thick-built man, with black, graying hair combed back in typical businessman fashion. He bore an obvious tan, standing several shades darker than his pale son, and revealed without saying a word that his last business trip had taken him somewhere sunny and tropical. He smelled irrefutably of cigar smoke and, oddly, barbecue sauce.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Taichi," he said, gripping Tai's hand in a firm handshake as he exchanged short bows with the teenager. "And you, Hikari," he said, giving the girl a brief nod before turning to Mr. Kurosawa.

"Hana's found herself some nice friends in Tokyo, Jiro," he commented, raising his drink at the computer science professor.

"She has, indeed, Masa," Mr. Kurosawa replied, taking a sip from his own champagne glass. "She actually doesn't know you're here. She'll be thrilled to see you."

"Now, if only Ivette could have come up from sunny Sydney for this event," Mr. Hiraki complained. "I'm sure Hana'd be perfectly happy. Unfortunately, that woman is as obstinate as a bull."

Ryo shot a glare at his father.

"That woman is my mother, Dad."

"Yeah, yeah," huffed Mr. Hiraki. He waved him off, bringing his wineglass to his lips before turning his eyes to Tai and the others. "You've all met Elin, right?" he said, merely for the sake of changing topics. Talking about his ex-wife of a ballerina was his least favorite subject. He gestured lamely at the tall, blonde woman hanging on Ryo's arm.

"Not all of them, no," Ryo said, answering on everyone's behalf.

Mr. Hiraki frowned briefly, sniffing the air affectedly before stepping out of their circle.

"Well, introduce her, Ryo," he prompted. Turning to Mr. Kurosawa, he said, "Join me in getting another glass, won't you, Jiro?"

Elin was introduced (or, at least to Tai and Matt, _re_-introduced) to the group of former digidestined, and Tai noticed that Ryo _thoughtfully_ excluded not only her relationship to him, but also the fact that he had been seeing her much longer than the week that had passed since his planned break-up with Hana.

As much as Tai wanted to humiliate Ryo for having the gall to bring his new girlfriend with him to Hana's event, he didn't get the chance. Mr. Kurosawa and Mr. Hiraki returned shortly after Elin had said a few words about herself, announcing that the ballet would begin soon and they all had to find their seats.

The foreign exchange student proved more softspoken than anyone expected. Her voice was low, almost soothing, and she had impeccable white teeth. Her manners were perfectly agreeable, though it didn't go unnoticed that she had a tattoo on the inside of her wrist: the Japanese character for 'beauty.'

"I take it back," Tai grumbled to Matt as they filed into the heart of the theatre. "Kaito Yamashita isn't 'King of the Douchebags.' Ryo-Assface-Hiraki is."

"Taichi," said Sora gently, though she said his name with caution. Both she and Matt had noticed a few heads turn at Tai's foul language. "You're not in the hallways of our high school."

Tai sighed, reconsidering his attitude.

"I know, Sora. I'm not going to do anything. I just…" He gestured at Ryo's turned back. "…The guy's a jerk! He broke up with Hana a week ago and he's flaunting his new fuc—" He checked his tongue. "—_screw_-buddy," he corrected, "around like nothing ever happened!"

"Tai," said Matt, as he led Sora through a row of seats. He turned to glance at his big-haired friend. "You know that Hana has a say in who she invites, right? I mean, if Ryo's here with Elin, then obviously Hana knows about it. She's allowed it, and if she's okay with it, you should be too."

Frowning, Tai conceded, and he settled into his seat between his sister and best friend. He pulled again at the collar of his shirt, slumping in his velvet seat in protest against the pretentiousness of his surroundings. Kari dropped a show program into his lap, and he glanced at it briefly before looking around him. Sora and Matt were already perusing through the pamphlet, and, to his left, Kari and T.K. were doing the exact same thing. He sighed.

"So did you get her flowers?"

Tai pulled his eyes away from the large red curtain drawn on stage, looking cluelessly back at Matt.

"You didn't get her flowers?"

"No," Tai replied. "Why—"

Matt slapped his palm to his forehead.

"The girl you like has been preparing for this for _weeks_, Taichi, and you didn't even think to buy her _flowers_? It's her name for crying out loud!"

Tai's eyes narrowed.

"Well, if you care _so_ much about Hana getting flowers, _Yamato_, why don't you get her some yourself, hmm? I'm sure Sora'd appreciate it."

"_Actually_…" Sora leaned forward in her seat. "We kind of already did."

"You _what_?"

"Yeah. Izzy, Mimi, Matt and I all went to my mom's flower shop to arrange a bouquet for her."

"And you guys didn't think to include me in any of this?" asked Tai, adequately flustered with both himself and his friends.

Matt answered on Sora's behalf.

"Well, we _thought_ you'd be a man and get her flowers _yourself_."

"Gee," Tai muttered, folding his arms. "You guys are the best."

"Oh, stop whining." This, from Mimi, who sat in the row behind them with Izzy. She bent over in her seat, Tai, Sora and Matt all twisting around in theirs to face her. Mimi pulled a single pink rose from her classy up-do and handed it to Tai.

"You sure about this, Meem?" he asked, reaching for the flower.

She laughed.

"Based on what I've heard about how things are with you and Heartbreaker Hana, I think you need all the help you can get. It was digging into my scalp, anyway."

"_Heartbreaker_ Hana?" he echoed while tucking the rose into his front suit pocket. "Where did you hear that?"

He was expecting her to say that she had heard it spread by Kaito Yamashita's mouth when she had toured their high school earlier that week with Izzy. Even if Tai hadn't officially announced that Hana had "broken" his heart, their demeanor towards each other was enough to ignite the rumors, and Kaito was already as bad a gossip as any girl. It went without saying, then, that Tai was thoroughly surprised when Mimi's eyes slid their gaze to his right, toward Matt. The young musician caught the motion and he responded with an innocent whistle as he looked away.

"You're calling her that behind her back at school?" Tai questioned, his voice sharpening with edge.

Matt took a moment to think about his reply. He could sense that Tai was irritated, and he wasn't going to let him embarrass himself by starting something in an opera house.

"I didn't mean anything by it, Tai," he said earnestly. "It just slipped. Honestly. I know Hana's been going through a lot of... _stuff_ lately and it's been hard on her, but that doesn't change the fact that she _did_ kind of break your heart. I only used it once, when Mimi asked me about what went on between you two. That was it."

Tai's fist clenched, and Kari, having overheard everything, furtively switched her gaze away from the ballet program to check on her brother. Her instinct told her to glance at his hands, and, sure enough, they were balled up, knuckles whitening, tendons stiff. She moved her stare up, to his jaw, and noticed a muscle twitch.

In the split second that followed, Kari locked eyes with both Mimi and Sora, all three of the girls sensitive to the tension radiating off Tai and the compulsion to reach an arm out and calm him down.

Kari opened her mouth to speak.

"T—"

"Look, Ishida," Tai spat. Matt's blue eyes returned the glare, cool and undaunted as usual. "Hana might have been the one to shut me down, but—"

He drew in a breath, the fist flexing slowly, almost painfully, back into an open hand. He sighed and looked away, hunching forward in his seat.

"…_I_ was the one who acted like a child, the raging beast monster." He rubbed his face with his fingers, ending with his hands pressed together and resting against his nose in a prayer-like fashion. "I just kept pushing, driving my denial out through anger… at _her_. It was worse than when I pushed Agumon to digivolve to his ultimate form. I just wouldn't—_couldn't—_accept the reality of the situation when I had expected so much more. I ruined it. I—"

He felt a familiar hand on his shoulder, and he knew his sister was behind him, smiling her thin, assuring smile. No one said anything for a time, allowing Tai to reflect in silence until Mimi bent over in her seat again and tapped him on the shoulder.

"_That's_ what the rose is for, Tai," she heartened. "And if she still doesn't warm up to you, then maybe I should have given you one with thorns."

He smirked faintly.

"And you two are talking again, aren't you?" Sora added with a cheerful smile. "That counts for something, too."

"And you're here, supporting her," Kari comforted.

"Which means," Matt began, setting a hand on Tai's other shoulder and giving him a shake, "that you are _not_ completely hopeless."

Tai managed a chuckle, which only augmented when Izzy added his own contribution.

"I wouldn't speak too soon," he said. "Tai still has three hours of ballet to get through, and if my calculations are correct, he'll be asleep within the half hour."

They all freely snickered at the jibe, and Tai, recapturing the merry mood, spun around in his seat, failing at withholding a grin.

"_One_ moment of triumph, Koushiro," he grumped. "That was all I needed."

Their laughter continued, loud enough to cause a few other patrons to send glares in their direction—none of which were noticed until the bright lights of the theatre dimmed. Almost instantly, the wide murmur of conversation across the rows and balconies of seats shriveled into a respectful, but anxious silence. Hums and sibilations wafted from the orchestra pit. A thin, winding melody penetrated the stillness gathering within the theatre, and then the curtains parted, and the show began.

xXx

It was only the first of many. The success of opening night brought her tremendous relief, but it was simply the deep breath one took before plunging back into the water. Still, she was greeted backstage by her father and all of her friends after the performance. She hadn't even gotten out of costume or wiped all of her make-up off when she was bombarded with flowers, hugs and praise as if she were the prima ballerina herself. When Mr. Hiraki greeted her, she let out such a squeal of surprise that it made her throat hurt.

"Your mother would have been so proud of you, Hana," said Mr. Hiraki as he released her from his embrace.

Water welled behind Hana's green eyes, and instinctively she looked to her father, who hugged her close to himself.

"She _is_ proud of her," he corrected, lifting his daughter's wet face. "And so am I."

When Ryo stepped forward to congratulate her with a hug and kiss, Hana ignored him completely, opting instead to introduce herself to Mimi, whom she hadn't met yet. The slight left Ryo hanging for an awkward few seconds, though it was a long enough time for the college student to redden and react to the embarrassment with a grim smile and a rub of the neck. More than one person had observed the spurn, including Ryo's own father, who was surprisingly indifferent to his son's mortification.

In an attempt to avoid further humiliation, Ryo then announced that everyone would be treated to dinner and that, if they wanted to make their appointed reservation, Hana would need to get ready and get ready fast.

"Okay, okay," she said, wiping at her eyes and smearing her mascara. She hurried back into the dressing room. "Give me fifteen minutes."

Her attire for the rest of the evening continued to reflect the level of sophistication the ballet often requested of its patrons. She emerged wearing a short, royal blue dress, half of her original up-do let down to cover her bare shoulders and most of her stage make-up erased from her smiling face. Tai didn't feel his jaw unhinge at the mere sight of her, but Kari kindly tapped his chin back into its proper place.  
>"She seems… fairly nice," Mimi whispered in an aside, glancing at Tai. It was odd to think that the petite brunette dancer was capable of—and, in reality, succeeded in—breaking the heart of the boy who fearlessly led their group of digidestined years ago. She had only exchanged a few words with Hana thus far, most of which could be summed up as, "It's nice to finally meet you. I've heard so much about you," and vice versa.<p>

"Her dress also matches your tie, …Tai," she added, jabbing him with her elbow.

Tai looked down at his father's loaned clothing accessory, amazed that Mimi was right.

"You didn't coordinate anything, did you?" asked Izzy, baffled by the coincidence.

"No," Tai replied. "I haven't talked to her in days."

Matt whistled lightly.

"Must be fate," he said with a smile.

Hana looked to her gathered audience.

"Ready?" she asked while wedging her feet into a pair of heels.

A hand gently nudged her in the back, and she turned, gasping when she saw Ren, who was still fully garbed in her White Cat costume. She greeted the other dancer with a quick hug.

"Because I know common sense isn't your forte, Kurosawa," Ren teased, handing Hana her coat after their embrace.

"Thanks, Ren. You know you're welcome to join us."

"You know, I would _love _to join you guys and smack _you_—" She stuck a finger to Hana's forehead."—on the head for inviting your two-timing, motherloving bastard of an ex-boyfriend to _your _special night, _but..._" She smirked, removing her finger. "I'm going to have to take a rain check." She leaned against the doorjamb to the dressing room and lifted the white, feathery mask she was wearing. "Max, Emi and I have a lot of kissing ass to do with ballet and opera sponsors tonight. You're lucky Nakamura didn't subject you to that sort of pandering."

"Try to be civil, Ren."

"Nah. I think I'll just remain in character and _purr_ all night long." She raised a curled hand and meowed at an unsuspecting Davis, who just about jumped out of his skin. Ren laughed, her brown eyes catching sight of Tai. "Well, look at you, Kamiya," she cooed. "Don't you look cute in your suit and tie." She nudged Hana with her elbow, hard enough to make her yelp. "Wouldn't you agree, Kurosawa?"

"Oh, um…" Hana cleared her throat, her face pink. "Yeah. He looks really…" Her voice trailed as she looked at him, trying her best not to make her opinion obvious. "… _Très beau_," she finished, looking away. "We should, um… probably get going."

Ren grinned all-knowingly at her.

"All right, Han. You all have fun." She blew them all a theatrical kiss and graced them with her princess wave before she disappeared into the dressing room.

As they followed Hana out of the theatre, Tai whispered to his sister:

"_Très beau_? What does that mean?"

Kari snickered.

"It's good, Tai," she said. "She gave you a compliment."

"I got that much. But what does it _mean_?"

"Hot," T.K. clarified, bluntly. "She said you were hot."

They made it to the restaurant just in time for their reservation, and Hana was pulled into so many different conversations and asked so great a multitude of questions that her head was on the verge of spinning. Unfortunately for her, she sat surrounded by her father, Mr. Hiraki, Ryo and Elin, which inevitably meant that she finally had to be introduced to Ryo's new girlfriend. Hana didn't want to be rude, especially when the fault wasn't Elin's, but Ryo's. Still, she found herself hardly listening to a word the art student was saying, not necessarily out of spite, but rather because she was distracted by a puff of brown hair further down the table.

Every free moment Hana received, she used to try to catch Tai's gaze, except that she always happened to turn when he had just looked away. Or her name was called just as he began to tilt his head in her direction.

It was a cycle that continued throughout the meal, stretching her attention all across the long dinner table. She would have gone dizzy from the warm lights and the white glints of the fine china and crystal glasses had not the adrenaline of post-show euphoria kept her focused.

The end of dinner marked the dénouement of the night, most everyone in Hana's party leaving save for Ryo, his father, Elin, Matt, Sora, and Tai. Mr. Kurosawa invited those still present to their apartment for coffee, and Hana didn't realize until she had gotten home and kicked off her shoes and cracked her stiff, tired toes that she was still shaking from all of the excitement.

When her father turned on their espresso machine, she kindly told him that she'd pass on the coffee, as caffeine was the last thing she needed if she wanted to get a good night's sleep.

"But I'd be happy to pass out mugs," she added.

She set some fresh cups of coffee on the low table in her living room, trying her best not to disturb the conversation Matt and Sora were having with Mr. Hiraki, Ryo and Elin. Though, with shaky hands to begin with, she was unable to keep the cups from clattering against each other or on the tabletop once she set them down.

"Oh, Hana," began Elin. "You shouldn't be doing that. You've been on your feet all night." She got up from her seat on the sofa and lifted the hem of her red gown. "I'll take care of the rest. You sit down."

"It's all right," said Hana, refusing to take the empty seat next to her ex-boyfriend. "I won't be able to sit still, anyway." Though, the pure look of disgust that she had sent in Ryo's direction made it seem like he had the bubonic plague. Regardless, she pursued Elin into the kitchen, growing increasingly frustrated. She flexed her tense hands.

Mr. Kurosawa had three more cups prepared by the time both girls arrived.

"Two are for Matt and Sora," he explained. "The last is for Tai."

Hana and Elin exchanged glances after hearing the latter.

"You take Tai's," said Elin, flashing her a smile. "I'll take the other two."

Hana shrugged.

"All right."

Her eyes scanned the living room after she exited the kitchen and was surprised to find Tai's signature mess of brown hair not present. Matt kindly informed her that he was out on her balcony, taking a phone call. It was news that sent bad memories shooting through Hana's brain, since her only recent recollections of someone stepping out to "take a phone call" were of Ryo.

Still, Hana summoned the courage to deliver Tai's coffee. She tapped lightly against the glass door leading to her small apartment balcony, and behind the glass she could see Tai acknowledge her with a wave, his mobile phone pressed to his ear. Hesitantly, she slid the door open.

She was met with a cool wind, eyes squinting and eyelashes fluttering as the cold blew over her. Her bare feet made contact with the icy concrete of her balcony platform, and she scolded herself inwardly for not putting on slippers. Though, a quick glance at Tai's feet showed that he was outside in his black dress socks. She smiled slightly.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything," she said in greeting, coming up to him.

Tai removed the phone from his ear, clasping it shut and stowing it in his pants' pocket before turning to face her.

"It was just Kari. She was telling me that she'll be spending the night at Yolei's… which really means that she'll be spending every moment prior to that with T.K."

Hana giggled.

"Well, at least she's giving you a head's up."

"Yeah," Tai agreed sarcastically. "Because if anything happens, I'm pretty sure the blame will fall to me."

"Kari's responsible, Tai. I don't think you have anything to worry about."

He smiled cheaply.

"Easy for you to say. You don't have a younger sibling."

Hana shrugged, joining him at the balcony railing.

"The perks of being an only child," she said.

An awkward moment of silence passed between them. Tai was trying his best not to look at her but succumbed to the urge, anyway. What both of them had been hoping to happen during dinner occurred in the moment that passed. Their eyes met briefly, and Hana, coward that she was, was the first to look away.

Tai swore he saw her blush, but it was dark outside. It could have been his imagination.

"So… you and Ryo…" He hoped that he didn't just ruin the rest of the night. To his surprise, Hana smirked, flicking her green eyes in his direction before sighing.

"We're done, if that's what you're asking," she replied, somewhere between bitterly and lamentably.

"It is," Tai admitted, "but… it also isn't. I mean, how are _you _taking it?"

Hana didn't look at him.

"It's… difficult to say," she said whilst picking at her fingernails. "I mean, I can stomach the sight of Ryo. I have for this entire night. I've yet to stomach the thought of touching him or being close to him, but, all things considered, I think I have a right to find him appalling, at least for now. Have I forgiven him for cheating on me? No. I probably won't for a very long time. But…" She rubbed her arm, the corners of her mouth dipping south. She exhaled silently. "He's family to me, Tai. He's my best friend. I couldn't drive him away from my life even if I tried. He'd get about as far away from me as Sora is to you, and that's not far at all." For a second, her body tensed against the cold, but it also stiffened as she tried to contain her disappointment. She forced herself to simper, lightly. "My dad on the other hand…"

Tai grinned. She caught the smile, and it encouraged her. Her body relaxed.

"What? Mr. K not taking your break-up very well?"

"Quite the opposite. I mean, my dad has always liked Ryo. That hasn't changed, but by some fatherly intuition of his, he knew that my relationship with him was cracking. My dad was afraid I would be the heartbroken one instead of the heartbreaker, but that didn't end up happening." Hana paused and faced him, smiling feebly. "The truth is that Ryo didn't break up with me, Tai. I… I broke up with him."

The words flowed from her lips easier than she expected, and yet the declaration still left her feeling hollow. She started to feel cold again, goosebumps raising on her exposed skin. She rubbed her forehead with her fingers.

_Thanks to you, of course_, she reminded herself.

He wanted to kiss her for her bravery, for having more balls than her ex-boyfriend ever would. She spoke before he had the chance to do anything.

"Coffee?" she asked, lifting the cup in her hands. "I mean, I know you don't normally drink it unless you're dying, but everyone else is being fancy and sipping espresso." She gestured at the sliding glass door, which gave each of them a view of the rest of their party gathered in the living room. Hana continued. "I can't drink it. I'll be an insomniac if I do, and then I'll pass the wee hours of morning between periods of eating junk food and singing really bad karaoke."

Tai laughed, hugging his side as his warm fingers took the mug from her cold, trembling grasp.

"I'd pay to see that," he said.

Hana punched him lightly in the arm.

"Oh, yeah? It'd be a stupendous show, wouldn't it?"

"More interesting than the ballet, at least."

He stopped when he realized what he had said, and he busied himself with chugging down his coffee during the awkward moment that passed. Cautiously, he turned to check Hana's reaction. She had one elbow leaning against the metal railing, her face, meanwhile, smirking smugly up at him.

"You fell asleep, didn't you?"

"No," he lied. She crossed her arms. "Not for _all_ of it. Maybe just…" He coughed, the rest of what he had to say coming out in murmurs. "Two-thirds of it."

"Well… Matt owes me two thousand yen, then."

"You made a _bet_ with him that I'd fall asleep?"

"Yep," Hana replied proudly. She regarded him with a narrow gaze, her grin unbending. "I think it means I'm starting to know you too well."

"That's not a bad thing."

Hana laughed.

"_Right_," she said, nearing him and pinching his jacket sleeve before poking him in the chest. "'Cause I need _all_ the Taichi I can get in my life right now."

Her eyes caught sight of the rose in his front pocket, the distraction strong enough that she didn't realize that the space between her and Tai had shrunk dramatically. She pulled gently at the right lapel of his suit jacket.

"You going to prom with anyone special, Taichi?" she teased.

"Uh, no," he said, a tad embarrassedly. He pulled the flower out of his pocket, almost forgetting that it was there. "It's, um…" He fingered the waxy stem as he raised the pink petals toward her. "It's for you, actually."

She giggled before she could stop herself, a hand rising to cover her smiling mouth.

"Thanks, Kamiya," she said, accepting the rose. She looked at it fondly. "I appreciate the gesture. It's sweet of you."

"Really?" he replied, feigning surprise. "Because I actually forgot to get you flowers. Mimi saved my ass and let me take the one she had in her hair."

"Oh, is that true?" Hana said. "Should I be thanking Mimi, then?"

"Well, yeah, I guess. But, you know, the delivery boy sometimes gets a tip, too, now and then."

Hana chuckled.

"Oh, I see…" She cleared her throat. "Well, it's a shame Ishida is getting all of my pocket money. I'm afraid I have nothing to tip you. Unless, maybe, the coffee counts."

"Man, you're cheap."

"Shut up."

She laughed along with him until the rest of her giggles halted in her throat when she felt his hand on her waist. His touch nearly burned through to her skin. She felt warm—flushed, almost. Her palms went clammy.

Tai expected her to resist, he could feel her shaking beneath his fingertips, but she let herself lean into him, her forearm resting on his chest. He lowered his head and looked straight at her. He heard and watched her swallow audibly.

Bravely, her green eyes met his, though only for a short time. Her gaze lost its mettle. She sighed. The open hand she had resting on his shoulder balled into a fist.

"I'm sorry, Tai," she whispered, casting her head down. "I can't."

The same sensation of frustration re-invaded her body, and her hands began to be restless again. In her agitation, she had tugged at his tie, apologizing for her roughness immediately after. She folded her arms and took a step away from him, knowing that, if she had stayed in his embrace, she would have taken her stress out on him—and here she thought that, with opening night over with, some balance would be restored to her life. The only thing she could do in the meantime was gnaw unforgivingly on her fingernail.

"Hana," said Tai.

He didn't know what to make of what had just happened between the two of them. He could still feel the odd pressure on his neck of Hana yanking at his tie, and it didn't bother him the way he thought it would. It thrilled him.

"Hana," he repeated.

She glimpsed warily at him, her fingernail still wedged between her teeth. The way he looked at her made her heart palpitate madly, and she bit into her lip, struggling to maintain composure. She knew that if she wanted to find relief, she would find it in him, but warnings blared inside the cavity of her skull._ Temporary relief_, she told herself. _Vengeful relief_. That was all it would be if she told him yes.

"Tai," she said.

He misinterpreted the utterance of his name as an invitation to approach her. She backed away. "_Don't_ make this harder for me than it already is. These past few weeks have been hell for me, what with Ryo and school and…" Her resolve dwindled. "…and I…" She blinked the water out of her eyes, her voice sobering. "I used you once to help me cope with change, Tai," she said. "I won't ever do that to you again, so please, don't make me."

It was too soon. She needed time. That, at least, was what Tai took away from her plea. He studied her with disappointment in his eyes, aware that she was making the right decision but nonetheless feeling betrayed by it. He had already waited so long for her.

With a sigh, he rubbed his forehead with his free hand, the other balancing his coffee mug precariously on the balcony railing. With both hands now liberated, he stuffed them into his trouser pockets, and he scrutinized her in the minute that elapsed, almost cruelly.

"You know how to reach me if you need me, Han," he said at last, though he said the words with underlying doubt.

The hands he had hoped to contain in his pockets were removed from hiding, and he held one out to her, hoping that she would at least accept his friendship if she would never accept anything else from him. His fingers were steady, inviting, but from within, the rapid pistoning of his heartbeat sent hidden tremors to every muscle of his body.

"I know," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

Sniveling, she wiped at her face, grimacing with embarrassment, before regarding the hand outstretched before her. Timidly, she reached for him.

"C-Could I hug you?" she asked, her lips trembling as they curved into a smile.

Tai's hold on her hand strengthened, and he pulled her toward him, unable to keep himself from grinning at the repeated request—the first of which seemed spoken so very long ago.

"Why are you even asking?" he said, smiling as he received her in his arms. He spoke into her hair. "Just go for it."

It took every ounce of her strength to keep herself from melting into him, from spilling tears onto his silk blue tie, from clinging to him until every hardship she had endured in the past month faded to the recesses of her memory.

But she wouldn't do that to him. She wouldn't make him her crutch.

And so she released him when the temptation to hold fast to him became unbearable. She fled, as Tai had expected her to do. He only had her in his arms for a couple of heartbeats, and even so, in that short time, he had almost forgotten what it felt like to live without holding her.


	35. Thirty-Five

**A/N: So… Guess what? All chapters for this story have been written! Which means, yes! All I have to do now is post the remaining chapters up! Yay! There are a total of 39 chapters, minus a brief epilogue, and… and… as you can see, that's not far away at all! **

**And to only add to the holiday cheer, here is PART ONE (yes, PART ONE!) of your Holiday/Christmas special. I hope you like it. Especially because this might be the last update… you know, with the world ending and all… **

**So read happily! :) **

xXx

THIRTY-FIVE

xXx

**K**ari lay on her brother's half of the bunk bed, her brown eyes keenly inspecting the paper in her hands. Tai sat at his desk, his back toward her and his hand scribbling under the bright light of his desk lamp. Textbooks and class notes were stacked on each side of him, additional study aids spread out on the floor of his room. Brother and sister each concentrated on their respective tasks in silence until Kari's gaze broke from the paper in her hands.

"Do you know what Hana's schedule is like for this week?" she asked.

The continuous string of correctly answered trigonometry problems reached the end of its streak at the question. Tai was tempted to turn around but stayed put, biting the eraser of his pencil to keep himself from changing his mind.

"No," he said. "I haven't had time to talk to her lately. We've both been busy. Why?"

"I'm in charge of hosting this year's Christmas party. Trying to schedule an actual date is proving to be more difficult than it should be. I suggest one day, and then someone calls me and says that the day doesn't work."

"So what does this have to do with Hana?"

He couldn't help it anymore and he turned around to face his sister, who had gotten up from his bed and stood beside his desk.

"Tai, I'm inviting her. It'd be a great opportunity for her to catch up with everybody and get to know Mimi. Plus, Joe will be back in town for the holidays. She'll be able to meet him, too."

"I still don't see how—"

"I need you to call her."

Tai frowned

"Can't you do that yourself? You have her number, too, you know."

In the time it had taken him to ask his question, his sister had pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and dialed a number. She looked up from her phone screen, smiling broadly.

"I can't. I just dialed Yolei to see if she has this Wednesday free." Tai heard the faint ringing coming from the speaker of her phone. She pressed the receiver to her ear, mouthing to her brother, "Please? Just call her."

With a moan, Tai gave his assent, though he was certain his sister had planned her entire request. He picked up his mobile phone and speed-dialed Hana, his fingers anxiously tapping his desktop.

After the premiere of _The Sleeping Beauty_, Tai did exactly what Hana desired of him and gave her her space. He didn't call her or text her, and, in school, he left her well alone—not that he had difficulty doing so. Hana had fallen so behind in her work that every moment of her spare time was spent with a tutor or with a quiz or test she had to make up. He wondered if their other friends experienced similar distancing from Hana, but whenever he brought her up in conversation with Sora, Izzy or Matt, they just shrugged and said that she was 'busy.'

He developed the feeling that they were hiding something from him when he caught Matt and Sora talking after school. Sora had been holding in her hands a picture frame.

"Do you think she'll like it?" she had asked her boyfriend.

"I think it's a great gift, Sora. I think it'll be a nice reminder of her friends and family in Odaiba while she's off at the acad—"

"What's that?" Tai had interrupted, sneaking up behind Matt. The budding musician jumped, and Sora quickly pressed the picture frame to her chest, covering the image within it.

"N-Nothing," Sora had stammered.

"Geez, Taichi!" Matt exclaimed, breathing heavily as he recovered from his shock. "You nearly gave Sora a panic attack!"

Despite Tai's prying, the couple insisted that what they had been discussing was of no import to him, and he let the matter drop. He even forgot about it completely the following day.

"Hello?"

Hana's voice plucked him from his musings.

"Hana," he said, correcting his posture in his chair. "It's Tai."

"Hey, Taichi," she said cheerily on the other end. "Long time no chat, eh?"

He smiled, glad that he caught her in a good mood.

"Yeah. It's been a while, if ten days counts as long." He wondered if a little over a week was a long enough time span for Hana to sort out her feelings. He couldn't imagine it being enough, but he remained hopeful.

She chuckled.

"Has it only been ten days? Because I swear it's really only been, like, four. The work just doesn't end."

"Well, it all ends on Wednesday. Last day of exams, and then we're free for the next two weeks."

"Oh, please don't make that day come any faster than it already is. I'm not ready for Christmas Eve-Eve."

"Christmas what-what?"

"Christmas Eve-Eve. The Eve of Christmas Eve."

He laughed.

"Go ahead," she grumped. "Make fun."

Tai controlled his chuckles.

"So…" he began, "Kari's hosting a Christmas party at our place Wednesday night. She was wondering if you could come."

"That's cutting it kind of close, don't you think?"

"Yeah, but she's been having trouble coordinating with everyone's schedules. Wednesday is pretty much her last option."

"Well… tell her that I have good news. I'm completely free Wednesday night. I can go."

"Awesome! I'll let her know."

"Good. Um… I guess I'll let you get back to studying? I mean, I don't know if you _are_, but in all honesty, you _should_ be studying."

"Don't worry. I am. I'll see you Wednesday."

"Will do. I'll talk to you later, Kamiya."

"Likewise, Han. Take care."

He pulled the phone away from his ear and pressed the 'End Call' button, aware of a shadow that had fallen over him. He turned to face Kari, who returned to a spot by his desk. She smirked delightedly at him. The look alone told him that she had heard the entire exchange.

"Looks like it's official," she said. "The Christmas party will be this Wednesday."

"Christmas Eve-Eve," added Tai, prompting Kari to raise an eyebrow. Tai opened his mouth to explain but decided against it. "Ah… just… never mind." He cleared his throat. "What's on the menu for the night? Eggnog? Fruit cake? Anything I can help with?"

"I'll take care of the food, Tai, but I'll need you to find me some decorations."

"Oh? What?" he asked, resuming his studying. He picked his pencil up again and chewed on the eraser before attacking another math problem. "Tinsel? Poinsettias? A wrea—"

Kari interrupted him, setting the paper that had all of her plans for the party onto the top of his stack of textbooks.

"No," she said. "Mistletoe."

xXx

Mr. Kurosawa had just stepped out of the apartment elevator, his briefcase swinging in his loose grip despite its contents: hundreds of pages worth of students' final exams. He detected almost instantly that something was different about the eleventh floor of the building. It was silent, first of all, save for a faint, high-pitched '_beeeeeep_' that hit the inner ear like a needle. The air smelled overwhelmingly of toasted marshmallows.

He continued walking, suddenly taking note of a thin wisp of smoke leaking from under what he was sure was his apartment door. The briefcase stopped swinging, and after imagining his daughter being eaten up by flames, he frenziedly unlocked the door to his home, calling Hana's name as he entered his foggy apartment.

No sooner had he stepped foot into the kitchen (which was murkiest of all), did he hear the powerful _'whoosh'_ of a fire extinguisher blasting in the direction of the oven. The smoky vapor rose and slowly cleared, revealing behind its veil a kitchen half covered in white foam, a blackened, crisp rectangle of what was supposed to be sheet cake, and his teenage daughter standing in the midst of it all, wiping her hands on the '_Embrassez le Chef' _apron she was wearing. She turned to greet him with a sheepish smile.

"Hi, Dad," she said. "Look, I can explain—"

Mr. Kurosawa raised one hand in the air, silencing his daughter instantly as he gazed, aghast, at the state of his kitchen. He came forward, absently reaching for his wallet in his back pocket and pulling out a few banknotes. Without a word, he took his daughter's hand and put the money in her palm.

"How about you buy your friends a Yule log instead, hmm?" he said.

Hana took the hint and bowed shortly to her father, taking off her apron and hanging it on a hook before disappearing into her bedroom to change. Even though her door was closed, she could still hear her father grumbling obscenities in French at the wreck she had created. As furtively as possible, she crept out of her room to the foyer, carefully putting on her boots.

She had just slipped on her peacoat and was about to part the front door when she heard her father call out to her.

"_Hana Gisèle Kurosawa!_"

Her eyes pinched themselves shut, her entire body hunched in fear.

"…Yes?" she squeaked, wincing as she anticipated her punishment.

Her father stepped out of the kitchen.

What was launched from his mouth was the usual tirade about her carelessness: "_You could have burned this place down! You could have gotten hurt! Why weren't you paying attention?_"

"_Je suis vraiment désolée, Papa,_" she murmured, bowing her head. "_Je vais faire attention_."

Mr. Kurosawa sighed, running his hand briskly over his balding head as he looked at his daughter.

"You're not allowed to bake again, Hana. Ever," he said, toning down the volume of his voice.

"Ever?" she echoed. Her green eyes stared up at him, wide and disbelieving. She smiled thinly. "Then who is going to do the baking, Dad? Certainly not _you_?"

Mr. Kurosawa thought on that a moment.

"All right. Fine," he surrendered. "Neither of us will bake. Ever. Deal?"

Hana laughed and gave her father a hug goodbye before opening the door.

"You still doing karaoke tonight with Uncle Masa?"

"Unfortunately so. Don't worry. I plan on bringing ear plugs and aspirin." He pointed a finger at her. "I probably won't be back 'til late, but _you _need to be home before midnight, Hana. We still have to pack up the rest of your room and take it to the academy... _and_, on top of that, we need to clean up this mess."

"I know, I know." She stepped out, giving her father one last look back. "I'll be good. I promise."

Less than an hour after Hana's failed attempt at a homemade _bûche de Noël_, she arrived at the Kamiya residence with Davis, struggling to get out of the basket on his bike. She had run into Davis when she went to a nearby supermarket to pick up a pre-made Yule log cake—her small, but sweet, contribution to Kari's Christmas party. He happened to be in charge of the hors d'oeuvres and was at the grocery store to grab a few bags of chips.

Hana hadn't known that he was there until she was on her way out, the boxed _bûche de Noël _balanced on her forearms. He had snuck up behind her and called out her name. She shrieked with terror, and the dessert that she had already ruined once was tossed up into the air, landing with a '_splat!_' in the space between them. The box didn't break, but when Hana picked it up and opened it, the dessert was a brown, splattered mess, making it look less like a festive holiday cake and more like a giant reindeer turd.

She didn't have any more money to purchase a new one, and Davis was similarly under-financed to help her with her dilemma. Her only option was to take the cake—as it was—to Tai and Kari's place. Davis's guilt got the better of him, and he knew that the least he could do for her was offer her a ride to the party on his bike. The thoughtfulness of the gesture made Hana agree unquestioningly, though she realized that she had made a huge mistake the instant she was settled into the wire basket of his bike and he pushed on the pedals.

The boy rode as recklessly as any professional daredevil. He dodged bike routes alongside main roads altogether and opted to scare Hana out of her wits by weaving his bike in, through, and around traffic laden streets at dangerous speeds. When they reached the top of a hill, Hana just about screamed her throat red and raw. The only thing that could possibly have made Hana's Christmas Eve-Eve the worst day of her life was if they had been stopped by the police and were forced to spend a night in jail for their delinquency.

"That was fun!" exclaimed Davis as he jumped into the elevator. Hana followed, taking her precious time getting reacquainted with the solid, steady ground. In all the chaos of the bike ride, she was surprised she didn't drop her already ruined Yule log.

"We should do it again sometime," he continued.

Hana smiled uneasily.

"Um… no, thanks, Davis."

"Oh, c'mon, Hana. I'll keep you safe. …Sort of."

The Kamiya residence was noticeably recognizable from among the monotonous line of grey apartment doors. The door was covered in red and green wrapping paper, a festive "Happy Holidays!" sign positioned under the family name plaque. Davis rang the doorbell.

They were greeted by Kari, who was fittingly adorned with a red Santa hat atop her head. Her brother wasn't too far behind her, raising a cup of hot cider at Hana and Davis as they stepped inside. Kari gladly took their coats and found them spots in the foyer to place their shoes. She was about to take the box in Hana's hands, too, but Hana, with an embarrassed smile and a small shake of the head, declined.

"I, uh… It's supposed to be _La bûche de Noël_, but it didn't… um… _survive_ the commute here."

"Oh, I'm sure it's still fine, Hana," assured Kari. "We can look at it in the kitchen and see if anything is salvageable, okay?"

"All right, but—"

Hana didn't finish. Kari had taken the box from her and set it on a kitchen counter for the time being, Davis following her.

"You, uh… You came with Davis?" Tai asked casually, avoiding eye contact as he sipped at his spiced cider.

Hana looked up at him, her green eyes slowly raking over his attire for the evening. He was wearing a blue zip sweater, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, blue jeans that were riding a bit low on the hip, so that if he stretched or bent his body, she would be able to see the band of his boxers puffing out.

She turned away, feigning apathy over the question and ignoring the blush on her face.

"Oh, yeah," Hana replied. "He's my date for the night, you could say."

Tai's throat constricted as he felt cider drip down the wrong pipe.

"Well, _someone_ moves on quickly," he remarked dryly, coughing afterwards.

Hana gave him a poke in the side with her index finger, though she was tempted to hook her finger in one of his belt loops—not that she was looking at anything in that general area.

"Oh, shush, you." She chuckled. "Though, if he offers to take me home on his bike, I'm going to pass. I just about died on the way here."

Tai laughed.

"You fell for the Motomiya bike offer? I feel sorry for you."

"Oh? So he's pulled this scam before?"

"Yeah. On Kari. She came home one day, her hair all messed up and pale as a ghost. I knew something was up, and she told me. Then I had a little… _talk_ with Davis, and well… Let's just say that he stopped offering to take Kari home after that."

"You think you could do a similar thing for me?"

Tai finished the cider in his cup and shrugged.

"Maybe," he said, refusing to give her a definite answer.

They were separated afterwards. Hana was summoned by Kari to be introduced to Joe, who was back in Tokyo for his winter break after his first semester at Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan. She spent a good while talking with the blue-haired pre-med student, often bringing up her ex-boyfriend as common ground, since Ryo, too, was in university, though he was a semester ahead.

"He always loves—_loved_—to tell me about all of the homework he had to do," she said. She stood in a corner of the living room with Joe, Cody and Izzy. "Sometimes I thought he was just making up things because no one could be given _that_ much work to do, could they? I mean, I thought my high school load was bad enough."

Joe laughed feebly, scratching the back of his head in an awkward tic.

"Well, I have to agree with your ex. It's a universal truth that college work is outrageous. And soul-sapping. There were times where I lost track of time studying."

"I thought you said you enjoyed studying, Joe," Cody commented, looking up at him.

"I mean, I _do_, Cody, but—"

"That's why he's so good at it!" Hana interrupted. "So good, in fact, that all concept of time escaped him, and _that's_ what you call focus. The same sometimes happens to me when I do ballet."

Joe's eyebrows rose.

"Ballet?" he echoed, looking at Izzy and then to Cody, both of whom turned to Hana, smiling.

"Would you like to explain yourself, Kurosawa?" Izzy prompted.

Hana was happy to provide Joe a crash course in Ballet 101 and was only cut short when Kari had beckoned her into the kitchen to discuss the fate of her Yule log. Upon her departure, Joe turned to look at Izzy and Cody, blinking the sheer boredom out of his dark eyes.

"I don't think I've ever met someone talk with that much enthusiasm about something," he murmured. He realized who he was with and changed his answer. "Well, except for you," he said to Izzy. He looked down at Cody, who was still dressed in his _keikogi_ and _hakama_ from kendo practice. "And maybe you, too."

Hana entered the kitchen, her arrival interrupting the discussion Kari was having with Mimi, Yolei and Sora about what to do with Hana's disastrous dessert.

"Is it that bad?" she asked tentatively, occupying the space made for her as the girls circled around the mushed-up Yule log.

Kari and Sora swapped looks of uncertainty, the former biting her lower lip.

"It kind of looks like poop, Hana," said Yolei bluntly, saying aloud what everyone else had been thinking.

"I know," said Hana, grimacing. "I just… I mean, I tried making one from scratch but I almost burned the apartment building down."

"Well, what's in it?" asked Sora. "Maybe you can try again here. We have time before dessert, anyway."

"It's just yellow sponge cake layered with chocolate mousse, rolled up, and then smothered in chocolate frosting."

"Oh!" chirped Mimi, clapping her hands together. "That doesn't sound too bad. I just learned a great recipe for Génoise cake from my cooking class that we can use as the base."

"You take cooking classes, Mimi?" Yolei asked. "Since when?"

"Not for long, really." Mimi had already broken away from their circle and was scrounging about the kitchen gathering ingredients and utensils. "Just since the start of the summer."

Yolei turned back to the rest of the girls, elevated eyebrows and pursed lips adequately conveying her wonder over the fact. Sora giggled.

"Don't worry. I had the same reaction when she told me. Apparently, she started taking them because she knows how good a cook Izzy's mom is and she wanted to impress them when she came for the winter. She's cooked them dinner once already, to rave reviews based on what she's told me, and Mrs. Izumi already wants her helping in the kitchen on Christmas day."

"Well, I _have_ heard that you can cook your way into a man's heart," said Hana, joining Mimi and arranging various sized mixing bowls on the kitchen counter.

"Ugh, if only it were that easy," Yolei groaned. She leaned on the edge of the counter and looked forlornly into the living room at Ken.

The girls drifted in and out of the kitchen while Mimi and Hana worked to make a _bûche de Noël _atasty and festive reality. Occasionally, male input was requested, and Mimi would call Izzy to come over and taste the batter, or Sora would bring Matt in to sample the chocolate frosting. Ken, too, was hauled in by Yolei to approve of the mousse filling, and Kari gave T.K. the honors of adding a generous sprinkle of powdered sugar over the finished cake.

Hana took a step back from the dessert, fists on hips as she admired Mimi's handiwork. Friends—new and old—always did seem to make everything better.

"You did an awesome job, Mimi," she said.

"Oh, shucks, Hana," Mimi cooed, flattered but not in any way embarrassed by the compliment. "And here I thought I'd never have to use that Génoise cake recipe. Well, all that's left is to try it."

She cut a slice and set it on small plate. Sora grabbed a fork from a drawer. Both girls approached Hana with the items in their hands, and Hana was prepared to tell them that she was on a diet for the ballet production but never had to utter the excuse.

"Here," said Mimi, handing the plate to Hana. "Take it to Tai."

"_Tai_?" she echoed. "Why does Tai get to try the cake first?"

Mimi's mouth shrank. She veered her honey-colored eyes over at Sora, clearing her throat not-so-subtly in the process.

"He's… ah… He's our resident cake… tester?" Sora laughed cheaply.

"More like our resident guinea pig," Kari chuckled in an aside, her words only heard by Yolei.

"Oh, yes. He has excellent taste in, um, cakes," Mimi added, none too convincingly.

"All right…"

Hana took the plate and fork and headed out of the kitchen, sauntering over to Tai who was standing off to the side of the living room with Matt.

"For you," she said, presenting the plate of spiraled cake to him. "Apparently, Sora and Mimi think you're the cake connoisseur around here, so of course you have to try it first before anyone else can have a bite."

"Oh, uh… thanks." He slowly took the plate and fork from her, glancing briefly at Matt. He had an odd feeling that this was a set-up to something, and, if he knew Hana, she had no idea what it was that their friends were plotting to make them do. And was it just him, or did the entire room fall silent?

"Are you all seriously going to watch me eat cake?" he asked before he brought the fork to his lips.

"Eating is what you do best, Tai," answered Joe. "And we're always happy to see you at your best."

Tai made a face.

"Or it's poisoned and you're just waiting for me to keel over," he replied. He looked down at Hana, her green eyes open and eagerly awaiting an opinion on the _bûche de Noël_. He opened his mouth.

"It's… _Mmm…_ It's good," he said, licking the chocolate off his lower lip.

Hana expelled a sigh, her breath hitting Tai in the nose. It smelled of spiced cider.

"_Bon!_" she cheered, turning around and giving two thumbs' up to all the girls in the kitchen.

Yolei clapped her hands and let out a whoop.

"Perfecto! Cake time!"

The kitchen received significantly more activity now that cake was on the menu, Davis even crying out a request to get two slices. Tai continued to stand to the side, surprised that Hana wasn't joining in on the mad rush for some Yule log.

"Aren't you going to get some?" he asked, tugging gently on the red sleeve of her sweater.

"Oh." She turned around, hair gently whipping him in the arm. "I can wait. I mean, I helped Mimi make it, so the smell of it is still stuck in my nose."

She didn't know why she gave an excuse. Tai didn't look like he heard her anyway. He had cut a piece off of his own portion, looking as if he was going to offer it to her.

"You should try it at least. Here."

Hana raised a hand.

"It's fine, Tai. I can wait, really."

"Hana."

"I'm serious. I can—"

She closed her lips when she tasted metal and chocolate in her mouth, Tai laughing as he pulled his fork free and dug back into his dessert. Hana chewed slowly, her cheeks hurting from trying to keep herself from breaking into a smile.

"You jerk," she said, after she had swallowed. She looked up at him, the temptation to wipe chocolate off his face met as she reached up and ran her thumb over the corner of his mouth.

He felt his face heat up.

"I'm…" He coughed. "I'm going to get some cider. Do you want some?" He set his plate aside as he scooted his way out of her company, their hips brushing.

"Yeah. I'd like that."

"Okay, cool. I'll be back soo—"

His exit was postponed indefinitely when he felt a hand grip his shoulder. It was Matt.

"Tai, where are you going?" he asked.

"To get me and Hana a drink. Why are you—?"

"Just stay here," said Matt, manually shifting Tai back into the spot he occupied previously before hastily leaving.

Hana had witnessed the entire exchange with a curved eyebrow.

"What in the world…?" she wondered, aloud.

"I don't know, either, Han," Tai murmured. "Something in the cider? I don't—"

"Kamiya, look above you!" Matt shouted, resuming a place by Sora on the opposite end of the living room.

"You, too, Hana!" said Sora.

Both Tai and Hana swapped mortified glances, each of them seeming to comprehend in that instant the charade that they now could not avoid.

"_Mon Dieu…_" moaned Hana, covering her mouth with her hand.

"Oh, _fffff…_" Tai's teeth continued to bite into his bottom lip, the word that had wanted to be uttered only coming out as a puffed breath. He craned his neck up, Hana doing the same, both gazing upon their doom with perceptible agony.

Right above them hung a small green twig of mistletoe, held by none other than two angels holding hands. Tai squinted suspiciously at the arrangement, reminding himself never to underestimate the craftiness of his sister and T.K.

"So how do you want to do this?" Hana asked in a whisper, drawing Tai's attention. She was aware that her question was awkward, but she didn't care. The entire situation alone had enough awkward to last her a century.

"What? What?" Tai replied. "You mean you're actually going to—"

"_Everyone_ is watching us right now, _Taichi_," she hissed. "For their sakes, and since it's the holidays…" She sighed. "…I mean, if you don't _want_ to…"

Tai reddened.

"N-No. I mean—not like that—I mean, yeah. They're all watching, and I guess they want a show, but if _you_ don't want to…"

"I didn't say that." She paused. "That's not what I meant. We should just do this for them, right? I mean, they set this up. They obviously want results, so let's just..."

"…do it."

"Right."

Hana steeled herself, shaking the nerves out of her arms. She glanced warily up at Tai.

"Umm…"

"Right. Okay." He swallowed audibly, Hana observing his Adam's apple bobbing up and down with a strange pleasure. Her palms dampened.

Tai angled his head, aiming to give her a quick peck on the cheek and be done with it, but he felt a nose brush against his own and the petal-like softness of something hit his upper lip.

He backed away.

"Whoa! Where are _you_ aiming?" he asked, grinning albeit. Hana's mouth worked to form a coherent reply.

"I… I was…" She huffed, her voice lowered another octave. "…_going_ to kiss you, Tai. What did you think?" she stammered.

"Well, I didn't think you'd _kiss_ me… I mean, I didn't think you'd kiss me _here_…" He pointed at his lips. "I was going for your cheek."

"You didn't tell me that."

"Okay, okay. So then where?"

"Where else do you think, genius?"

Tai blinked a few times. He really wished she hadn't asked such a rhetorical question. In that instant, a long list of other places to kiss her formed in his head.

"Okay, okay, calm down," he said, more to himself than to her.

They tried again. And this time they each touched their lips to the corner of the other's mouth, skimping out on a kiss yet again, but thankful only that they had sated their friends' thirst for entertainment.

"That has got to be the most awkward kiss I have ever seen in my entire life," whispered Yolei.

Mimi nudged Izzy with her elbow.

"Ours wasn't like that, was it?" she asked.

"Not even close."

Matt slapped a palm to his forehead, wounded to the core that all of his and Sora's efforts to push Hana and Tai into each other had resulted in the worst kiss in human history.

"Well," comforted Sora, rubbing her boyfriend's back. "We did try."

"And here I thought my love life was bad," mumbled Joe with a shake of the head.

Kari and T.K. giggled, the former holding onto the latter's arm.

"Well, I thought it was cute," said Kari.

T.K., too, remained positive.

"They get an 'A' for effort, right?"

None of their comments were registered by the two at the butt of the gag. Tai whistled out a sigh as the deed was finally done, and Hana went straight to the punch bowl. She downed an entire cup of the cold beverage, fanning herself with her hand and becoming an amusing attraction to all of her friends. Tingles spread through her entire body, out to her very fingertips, sending waves of giddiness coursing through her limbs like fire in the blood.

She wiped her forehead with the back of her hand, not even daring to look at what Tai did post their little mistletoe debacle. She bit her finger for a quick reality check, wincing when the pain registered.

"_Mon Dieu_…"


	36. Thirty-Six

**A/N: I'm just… going to leave this here. ;) **

**And this chapter hearkens back to Chapter 16… sort of. At least in the beginning. **

**Happy reading! And thank you, as always, for your reviews and your readership. :) **

**And, of course, I wish you all a Merry Christmas! ( **_**O **__**¡Feliz Navidad!, ou Joyeux Noël!**_**)**

**Happy Holidays!**

xXx

THIRTY-SIX

xXx

**T**he skid of her boots on the sidewalk only reminded him that they weren't talking. But unlike the last time the two of them took the awkward trek back—alone—to Hana's apartment, there wasn't the heat of summer, and there weren't the distant conversations of their friends walking ahead, or the zooms of passing cars. There wasn't even the embarrassing faux pas of accidentally brushing hands. Hana's hands were firmly stuffed into her coat pockets and his were stiff at his sides. The only thing that _did_ stay the same was that Tai, once again, had his tongue in a knot.

"Thanks for walking me home," Hana said out of the blue, her voice muffled by the thick scarf she had wrapped around her neck.

He turned and looked down at her.

"Yeah, anytime, Han," he said, his breath leaving him in a cloud of mist. "It's the least I could do. And I'm not going to let you go home on Davis's bike again."

She giggled.

"I know, but I still feel bad. The party was still going on, and you had every right to stay and have fun. I mean, Yolei caught Ken under the mistletoe. Joe and Cody were duking it out on a karaoke sing-a-thon. I wish I could have joined everyone else playing 'Never Have I Ever…' Instead, I end up being the partypooper who has to leave early because…" Her voice died as she inhaled the cold air.

"Because of what?"

Her green eyes peeked at him, but her mouth remained silent about the subject.

"Nothing," she mumbled.

He didn't press her on the matter, and they walked the rest of the way to Hana's apartment in building silence. It was only once they were in the complex and making way to the elevator did Hana gently set her hand on Tai's elbow. He knew what such a gesture meant instantly. She had something important to say. He braced himself.

"Tai," she began, looking up at him. The elevator doors 'pinged' open.

He waited, patiently, for her to go on.

"Tai," she repeated. The green eyes looked south. The head bowed. What followed was spoken with flagrant difficulty. "I'm not going back to school after winter break."

Before she could let him reply, she stepped in between the elevator doors as they were about to shut, going in quickly and punching the button for the eleventh floor. Tai pursued her, eyebrows knitted, his face puckered in confusion.

"What? What do you mean you're not coming back to school?"

She exhaled loudly through her nose, the sound of her breath whooshing out of her filling the elevator car with her long kept secret.

"It's too much," she confessed. "I can't do ballet and school separately. I…" She slumped against her side of the elevator wall. "I've enrolled in the ballet school. I start in January, after the New Year. It's a boarding school, so I… I have to live in their dormitories—"

Tai cut her off there. If the words leaving her mouth were tangible things, he'd have swatted them down, but they weren't. He couldn't do anything against what she was saying. He was completely at their mercy.

With a grunt, he pushed the emergency button on the elevator, stopping the car wherever it was on its journey to the eleventh floor. The sudden halt upset Hana's balance, and she wobbled a bit on her feet, grabbing onto the elevator railing to steady herself.

"So you're just leaving?" he burst.

"I just can't give ballet up, Tai," Hana responded, calmly. "I've invested too many years of my life into it. It _is_ my life. I… I know that now. My grades for this trimester were awful. God awful. It didn't matter if I stayed up late or went to tutoring and study sessions and used every bit of my spare time studying. It just wasn't enough. I'm _failing_ everything."

"Then…" He tossed his hands in the air, frustrated that he had next to nothing to say to her—nothing that would keep her where she was. "Then take the classes again next semester," he suggested, lamely.

"And what? Have everything repeat itself? There's only so much stress I can take, Tai. This trimester exceeded my limits. I _need_ a break from it all. I _need_ it. Please try to understand that."

His guard lowered, and he sank back against the elevator wall, running his fingers through his hair, trying to scrub out the feeling of helplessness that plagued him. Hana released the emergency button.

The elevator doors parted a few seconds later when they reached Hana's apartment floor, and she stepped out, half-expecting Tai not to follow her, for him to stay exactly where he was and make her walk the next several meters alone.

He didn't, even if he wanted to.

"It's not because of me, is it?" he asked tentatively, feet pausing as they reached Hana's front door.

"Of course not, Tai," Hana comforted. She came up to him and set a hand on his shoulder. "Why would you even think that?"

He stared blankly at her for a moment. If he remembered correctly, she gave him _plenty_ of reasons to think that he was the center of her misfortune.

"You're not seriously asking that, are you?"

Hana blushed, her face—paled by the cold of winter—suddenly awash with color.

"What I said then was… _unkind_, Tai." The hand she had on his shoulder slid south, down his arm and to his fingers. She held them gingerly, as though she were touching something she had no right to feel. "Everything prior to that night, I had told you how much you meant to me, how much I appreciated our friendship and you, and then… I… I blew it up in your face. I didn't mean to. I didn't…" She hissed—both from the cold and from the weight of her confession. Her tongue wanted to speak with reckless abandon, but her mind wouldn't let it. She wouldn't botch her words up this time.

"I was just scared," she admitted, weakly. "I didn't want to let go of Ryo. I _couldn't_ let go of him. Not after everything that he did for me, I couldn't. And I didn't know what it would be like, to live a life without him when he had been there for me since before I could remember. I didn't want to face that reality. I didn't want anything else to change, but everything already did. History didn't—_couldn't_—justify what he did to me."

Tai felt something wet drop onto his bare hands, hands that she still held in her own. It was the eve of Christmas Eve and he had made he cry. Perhaps not directly (or purposefully), but she was still crying because of him.

"Hana…"

"I'm sorry," she said, sniffing and blinking her tears away. "I really am. If I had known what would have happened, Tai, I wouldn't have… I'd have told you…"

He smiled thinly and gave her hands a light squeeze.

"It's okay, Han," he told her softly. "I didn't exactly…" He sighed. "… _react _well myself. I said a lot of things that night that I wish I could take back."

She shook her head at him.

"You had _every_ right to react the way you did, Tai. You don't need to apologize for anything. I should have just been honest with you sooner—honest with myself, too."

Her eyes glimpsed bravely at his face and read in his gentle stare the fleeting flash of understanding. He smiled grimly.

"Let's just… put it behind us, right? It's the holidays, anyway. You shouldn't have this stuff on your mind. You deserve some rest and relaxation."

She laughed meekly.

"Well, you do have a habit of knowing what's best for me," she said.

He patted her gently on the shoulder, and she backed away from him afterwards, turning her back ever so slowly as she went to unlock her apartment door.

"So will I still see you after winter break and, you know, you go to ballet school?"

She stole a look at him while twisting her housekeys into the lock.

"You know where the academy is, Tai. You're always welcome to visit me if you'd like. I'd be happy to receive you." She paused. "But if you mean… _something else_… I can't quite say, Tai. I don't think right now's the best time to be rushing into anything."

"Yeah," he murmured, casting his stare sideways as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Story of my life," he mumbled to himself.

"What was that?" she asked. Her fingers were set on the doorknob, a detail that Tai was keenly, though unexplainably, aware of. He didn't want her to open the door and disappear behind it. He didn't want her to leave. How could he make that clear to her?

"Nothing," he said. He waited a heartbeat of a moment, brown eyes locked on hers, fist taut at his side. The moment ended and he stepped back. "Merry Christmas, Hana."

She smiled.

"Merry Christmas, Tai."

The world felt like it slowed the instant Hana turned her head around, eyes searching for the keys she left in the slot, fingertips reaching for the doorknob. Tai couldn't help it. He risked a glimpse at her over his shoulder, knowing full well that if he did, he'd never leave.

He went back, steps marching with conviction, eyes aimed at her. What he wanted to tell her couldn't be said. He had tried and he had failed, his words somehow always getting scrambled up in his mind, undecipherable, incoherent, _meaningless_. But he would make it clear to her this time. No more fumbles. No more mistakes. No more insinuations. She would know _exactly_ what was on his mind—because she would _feel_ it.

"Hana."

Her name was but a ruse, a distraction. She turned just as he came toward her. He did not hesitate. He did not falter. Swiftly, gently, recklessly, he grabbed hold of her face, and, in one liquid motion, kissed her full on the mouth.


	37. Thirty-Seven

**A/N: Happy New Year! Sorry for the delayed update. Holidays and all. ;) **

**Anyway, just as a warning, this chapter might upset you. I have a tendency to, well, not give people what they want or expect (just look at Chapter 27!), but more on that later. **

**Happy reading! :) **

xXx

THIRTY-SEVEN

xXx

_One Month Later…_

**T**ai idly dribbled a soccer ball on the wet pitch, his movements clearing treks of slush and mud as flurries fell from the sky. Occasionally, flakes would fall from his hair, dusting his shoulders with the white ice, hitting his nose with splashes of cold.

Panting, he scooped up the soccer ball, spinning it briefly between his hands before he set it down on the green turf. He backed up, soccer cleats digging down to the soggy, dead grass, brown eyes alternating their focus between the soccer ball and the empty goal post some yards away from him.

He counted to three before he ran up and punted the ball, anxiously watching it through the snowfall as it collided with netting and bounced gently back to the ground. Satisfied, he went and retrieved it, placing it back on the white, circular penalty marker before repeating the kick. He did so ten more times before plopping his rear onto the cold pitch, elbows resting on his raised knees.

His winter holiday had sped past him, the merry festivities of Christmas and the New Year celebrated and quickly stored within his short term memory. The New Year was spent with his relatives. Christmas, with his grandparents and immediate family.

Christmas Eve, with Hana.

Tai inhaled deeply as he recalled the last night he spent with the aspiring ballerina, the cold streaming into his lungs and cooling him from the inside out. It had been the very night she had told him that she was going to ballet school, that she'd be abandoning her friends in Odaiba for a life focused solely on the art. And, unknowingly, she had set the stage for the pivotal moment when he had kissed her as though he had had nothing to lose.

What happened afterwards hadn't been at all what he had been expecting. He thought she'd be appalled with him, push him away and tell him what he did was wrong. But she didn't. The instant his lips reluctantly—achingly—parted from hers, she seized the lapels of his coat, her forehead resting against his frenzied heart, her body shaking as she breathed in the scent of him.

"You feel like you got a lot off your chest, Kamiya?" she phrased.

"I guess," he replied, not quite understanding her.

"Unburdened yourself? Liberated your conscience?"

"Su—"

"Good. 'Cause I haven't."

Her grasp on his jacket tightened. She yanked once and tersely, bringing Tai's head back down to her level. Their lips met a second time, and she leaned against him on her tip-toes, hands releasing hold of his coat as they crawled up his neck and through his hair. Her tongue poked into his mouth.

He relished the taste of her—spicy from the cider she had drunk, warm, and wet. He pushed her against her apartment door, and the resistance met gave way with one blind twist of the doorknob. Clumsily, they fumbled in the dark, getting pulled into Hana's bedroom as if it were a magnet to their desire. Before he knew it, shoes were chucked off. The coats followed. Hands wandered, tugging, roaming. Breath was swapped. Hips knocked. Skin touched air.

Whether it had been a spark of reason that flashed through his brain or the work of divine intervention, Tai, by some miracle or other, had stopped it. He broke their embrace, panting above her, brow rimmed with a thin coat of perspiration, his legs entwined with hers in the wrinkled mess of her bed. The spell had worn off like the frayed edges of a good dream, leaving the two of them in the vanishing remnants of their fantasy, hyperaware of the physical presence of the other, the breath that they shared, their near nakedness.

For a time, they remained motionless, the two of them listening to the other's steady breathing, soaking in the visceral scent of their sighs, the salt drying on their damp skin. He nearly lost himself again in the overload of his senses but was prevented when Hana spoke.

"I'm sorry," she had said, her fingertips grazing his cheek. She turned her face away, hiding it partially behind her other hand, wincing as the reality of their encounter sank into her tired mind. They weren't even dating and already they had gone to places some couples hadn't even trespassed.

Tai knew that she had been under a lot of stress. It was tension he had been aware of ever since the library incident, more so when she had tugged at his tie after the premiere of her ballet. As much as he wanted to help her blow it all off, he wasn't going to shame her by maximizing on the opportunity. Still, he could read her mortification as if it were letters written all over her body.

He uttered her name softly in the dark, removing the hand that covered her eyes.

"I just don't want you to think I'm some sort of hussy, Tai," she said, refusing to look at him. "I just—"

"Hey," he whispered gently, "I kissed _you_, didn't I?"

He smiled faintly, sliding a loose strap of her camisole back over her shoulder.

"You did, but—"

"Then there's nothing to worry about."

He stayed with her for the entirety of the night, surprisingly comfortable lying beside her in naught but his boxer shorts and she, dressed in nothing but her frilly camisole and her Christmas-themed panties. No more words were exchanged between them, and they woke to the rays of the sun streaming through Hana's bedroom window in wide slants. Outside her bedroom door, they could hear Mr. Kurosawa shuffling about, muttering to himself while he cleaned the mess in his kitchen.

Tai had been spooning her when they both woke, the fronts of his knees comfortably against the backs of her smooth legs, his arm wrapped around her waist. He had a feeling that she was awake, but to make sure, he planted a kiss on her jutting shoulder blade. She shifted over so that she faced him.

"Taichi…" she began, her hand running through his messy hair.

The way she looked at him, her green eyes open and probing, boring into his own, made him feel like an object under scientific scrutiny, like some cosmic phenomenon being looked at through the thick lens of a telescope, viewed with equal parts of wonder and sadness—wonder because he had at last been realized, and sadness because he would continue to be distant from her.

"You know I'm still going to the ballet school," she told him quietly.

He took the hand stroking his hair and left a kiss in the palm. It was, unfortunately, a truth that hadn't escaped his thoughts despite their unplanned intimacy. He wanted to keep her where she was, which was beside him.

"If it will be easier for you," she continued, since he had said nothing, "we can just avoid each other for a while. You don't have to visit me. You can erase my information from your phone. You can delete my email address. You—"

Tai put a finger to her lips.

"If it will be easier for _you_," he corrected, "I'll do whatever it takes."

"I'm not worth the trouble, Tai."

He considered her words for a moment, his lips thinning as her gaze veered elsewhere, eyelids lowering over her green irises. To her surprise, he broke out into a smirk.

"I wouldn't be here if you weren't," he said jokingly, chuckling afterwards. "Besides, you've probably already gotten me in trouble. How am I going to explain all of this to your dad? 'Hey, Mr. K! Weren't expecting to find me in your daughter's bed, were you?'"

Hana punched him playfully in the arm, her cheeks hurting as she unsuccessfully tried to contain her giggles. Her laughter only augmented when he retaliated by tickling her.

The memory made Tai smile faintly as he got up from the pitch, picking up his soccer ball and tucking it under his arm as he walked back home. The new trimester for the school year had started. Soccer season was coming up again. Training and long practices would take precedence on his weekday afternoons. A pile of homework would be waiting for him when he reached home.

His thoughts continued to drift to that memorable day as he walked the streets towards his apartment complex. His cleated feet trod over the wet sidewalk concrete, the icy flakes that fell onto his shoulders dampening his soccer training kit and turning the aerated fabric a deeper shade of blue. An overcast sky lingered above him, shedding its wan, grey light over his neighborhood, which, at that time of day, was an empty residential strip, punctuated sparingly with cheer only by way of the Christmas decorations some homes had yet to take down.

Still, other families had done away with the holidays completely, and dumpsters were overflowing with the dried, discarded skeletons of firs and spruces.

His luck on that fateful Christmas Eve morning had persisted throughout the day, though even in retrospect he wondered how he happened upon such good fortune after weeks of non-stop disaster. He had even managed to sneak out of Hana's room and apartment undetected (not to mention, clothed) during the time Mr. Kurosawa had spent getting ready in the bathroom. Hana had seen him off and had stood in the front doorway still in her camisole and underwear, waving as he walked backwards to the elevator.

"Call me?" he had motioned, to which Hana had replied with a laugh and a thumb's up.

He had been expecting to be lectured when he had finally arrived home, smelling of the floral perfume worn by a certain giggly, adolescent ballerina, and wearing the same clothes he had worn the day prior. What he had encountered instead was his mother humming to herself as she cooked in the kitchen and his father and sister engaged in watching a Christmas special on the television.

"Hey, Tai," Kari had greeted, turning around on the sofa when the front door clicked shut behind him.

"Uh, hey," he had said, still confused as to why he hadn't already been yelled at.

"You boys must have been up late for you to come home at this time," commented his mother as she walked out of the kitchen to greet him.

_I actually had a __really__ good night's sleep,_ Tai had thought. He smiled thinly at his mother.

"You know Tai and Matt, Mom," Kari had interrupted. She got up from the couch and joined her mother and brother. "They are almost always up to no good."

"Yes, well, I suggest you take a shower and change, Taichi. Your grandparents will be here soon."

"Grandparents?" he had squeaked, scratching the back of his head.

"…Yes," his mother said. She squinted suspiciously at him. "Grandma and Grandpa always come here for Christmas, Tai. Or have you forgotten?"

"W-Well," Tai had fumbled, "I… I mean, yes, I know, but I kind of… made plans?"

Mrs. Kamiya crossed her arms, a gesture that silently commanded her son to elaborate.

"I, um… I promised Hana I'd help her move in to her dorm at the ballet school," he admitted, turning red. "It's the last time I'll see her in a while—she's going on a skiing trip with her father and a family friend tomorrow—so I thought—"

His mother's arms relaxed. She had even ended up shrugging.

"That's perfectly fine, Taichi. Just make sure you're home for dinner. Hana and her father are welcome to come, too, if they want."

Tai was left staring unblinkingly down at his mother, his mouth agape but silent.

"Uh… All right," he had managed to say. "I'll, um, I'll… I think I'll go take a shower now."

Hurriedly, he had ended the conversation with his mother and had gone into his room, a hand running through his hair as his mind grappled over what miraculous thing had just happened.

Kari had followed him and she leaned against their bedroom door, which she had closed behind her. The smile on her face was smug almost to the point of looking evil, a look which didn't quite fit her innocent visage.

"You just had the best Christmas Eve-Eve of your life, haven't you?" she had said wryly. Tai's instant reflex had been to deflect. He scoffed.

"No," he snapped. Kari raised an eyebrow. "Okay, fine. I… Yeah. I had a really good Christmas Eve-Eve. And a really good Christmas Eve, so far, at least." He paused. "How'd you even know…?"

Kari chuckled.

"I told Mom and Dad when they came home last night that you went to sleep over at Matt's… seeing as you _didn't_ come home from walking Hana to her apartment. Figuring out what likely happened between you two wasn't rocket science. Even Cody could guess as much."

Tai laughed cheaply.

"Heh… It wasn't, really," he said, struggling to find the appropriate words to describe his night with Hana. "I mean, what happened isn't what you think happened. I mean, it is, partially, but—"

Kari raised a hand.

"I don't need to know the details, Tai. In fact, spare me the retelling."

"O…kay, then."

An awkward silence filled the gap between brother and sister.

"So…" Kari began, "…is there anything else you'd like to announce?" Her pale brown eyes widened in anticipation. "Anything relating to you and Hana, maybe?"

It had been a question posed weeks ago, and, still, as Tai recollected the conversation with his sister, he didn't have a proper answer. Occasionally, he'd let the mystery behind his undefined tryst with Hana get to him, allowing him to brood and mull over the decision the two of them had arrived at the night of Christmas Eve. But more often than not, he accepted their agreement for what it was.

With a loud thud, Tai kicked the door to his apartment open, pulling the housekeys out of the lock as he stepped inside. He slipped his dirty cleats off, leaving specks of mud on the wooden floor. His mother would be thrilled to have the dirt welcome her home from her errands. He dropped his soccer ball beside his shoes and walked into the kitchen, realizing, as he opened the refrigerator door, that there were multiple people in his living room.

As soon as he pulled out a can of soda and nudged the refrigerator door shut with the back of his heel, he looked into the living room, one eyebrow piqued.

"Thanks for telling me you were throwing a party while I was away, Kari," he deadpanned.

He drank from his beverage as he joined his sister and their friends in the living quarters, brown eyes glancing at the black and white film playing on their television. The gibberish coming from the actors on screen told him that it was a foreign film.

"Sorry," Kari said sheepishly, looking at him from her place on the loveseat with T.K. "It wasn't really planned. We just got a package in the mail, and some of the stuff in it was meant for our friends, so I figured why not just invite everyone over to look through everything?" She gestured at a box perched on the dining room table.

"So explain the French film," he said.

He noticed that the rest of his friends seemed to be actively avoiding joining his conversation with his sister, even though the words he had to say to Kari weren't exclusive. Matt's blue eyes glanced a few times in their direction, though he kept silent, his arm lying lax over Sora's shoulders. Izzy was sitting on the floor, his back against the sofa, legs under the coffee table. His dark eyes shifted from the screen of his laptop to the T.V., ever the multitasker even in social situations.

Davis, Cody, Ken and Yolei were situated closer to the television. Cody and Ken were leaning back, their shoulders slightly hunched and their hands spread flat beside their hips. In contrast, Davis and Yolei stared mesmerized at the screen while they lay on their stomachs, Yolei's feet swaying gently and occasionally bumping Ken's arm.

"It was in the package she sent us from her training program in Russia right now," Kari answered. "The movie was labeled specifically for me. Since everyone was already here, I thought we'd watch it. There are subtitles, you know."

"Are you going to watch or just stand there, Kamiya?" Matt finally said, smirking when Tai shot him a glare. "We can make room for you on the couch."

Tai declined.

"I need to take a shower," he said, already making his retreat. He went to his room to grab his towel, tempted to look into the box on the dining table as he exited and made way to the bathroom.

His hands clenched as he wondered about the remaining contents in the package.

_No_, he told himself, before rushing into the bathroom and closing the door harder than anticipated.

The loudness of the door slam left his friends looking amongst themselves as Tai's feelings about the entire situation lingered in the air like a fog.

"There wasn't anything else in the box, was there?" T.K. asked Kari.

Kari looked down.

"No. There wasn't anything for him."

xXx

Tai stared up at his phone screen as he lay on his bed, wet hair dripping into his pillow. He stared at his list of contacts, thumb clicking methodically between the up and down arrows as he contemplated on a gap between two names. He could still hear the movie going on in the living room, interrupted every now and then by a cry from Yolei.

"_Seriously?_" he heard her exclaim often. "_Just kiss her already!_" which was usually followed by groans of frustration and the snickers of their friends.

Tai could sense the familiar emotion of dread creeping up on him, an effect that would leave him feeling much like the way the world outside looked—grey, overcast, lined in abandoned items and memories. He was prevented from doing so when he detected another outcry from the living room.

"Take it easy," T.K. advised. "Everything will sort itself out in the end."

"Just be thankful you're not the characters in the movie," Sora contributed.

"Man," said Davis, "that would suck!"

"Mimi says 'Hi,'" Izzy commented idly.

"She does?" Yolei burst, the tangent making her forget her anger over the movie plot. "How's she doing?"

Tai lowered the phone in his hands as he folded his arms behind his head, exhaling audibly through his nose.

Shortly after the New Year, Mimi had left to return to America. Tai had expected her to weep grandly at the airport, but she surprised him by exerting an astonishing amount of self-control—or, perhaps, confidence that she would see them all again and see them soon. Her goodbyes to him and the rest of their mutual friends had been brief and thoughtful, but she had spent the majority of the time before her flight sitting beside Izzy, head leaning against his shoulder, holding his hand while he explained various things to her on his ever-present laptop computer. Sometimes, judging by the laughter coming out of Mimi's mouth and the many cries of "Prodigious!" from Izzy's, Tai thought they were killing time by watching cat videos on the internet.

When the time had come for Mimi to board her flight, Izzy watched her go in silence, her absence already felt under his skin even though she was still within arm's reach. Tai leaned his elbow on Izzy's shoulder.

"You're not going to run after her or anything, Koushiro?" he had joked.

"Only if she was in danger of never coming back, Tai," Izzy had replied. He had smiled faintly as he looked up at Tai, and he read in the brief exchange of glances a shared comprehension. And so the computer genius offered his comrade a sympathy of which he was quite familiar.

"But she's coming back," Izzy had resumed, "And I'll be waiting for her."

Tai blinked and found himself staring at the bleak underside of the top bunk, Izzy's words still rattling within the borders of his skull—words he knew were spoken in reference to Mimi but couldn't be helped in their application to someone else. His cell phone was still in his clutch, his fingertips sensitive to its marred surface—the dents and scratches it secured from many a fall and smack on the ground; and, still, it functioned. Perfectly, in fact, even if it was missing a name in its memory.

He veered his gaze to the side. Based on the increased laughter seeping under the crack of his bedroom door, Tai gathered that something else of importance had happened while he had remained locked in his room. Resisting the urge to groan, he sat up, brown eyes regarding the piece of technology in his palm before he shoved it under his pillow.

His friends were still laughing when he emerged from his bedroom. One glance at his living room explained the entire ordeal to him. In her anger, Yolei had thrown a couch pillow at the T.V., which nearly tipped the expensive gadget off its stand.

"What'd I miss?" he said, joining his friends and squeezing himself between his sister and T.K. on the loveseat. The young teens squirmed, the looks on their disgruntled faces priceless as they were separated.

"Did you really have to do that?" Kari complained.

"What?" Tai quipped, grinning mischievously. "I can't sit in between my two favorite protégés?"

"I know why you did that," Kari murmured, not buying his excuse.

"Hey!" whined Davis, overhearing them. "What does that make me? Chopped liver?"

Tai promptly shut him up by chucking a sofa pillow at him. To his surprise, Davis dodged it, laughing and making a face at his _senpai _only to be hit smack in the nose with another pillow, one thrown by Matt.

"Your big head was in the way, Motomiya," was Matt's excuse as Davis rubbed his head.

The rock musician traded knowing looks with the soccer captain, Tai allowing a weak grin as he gave Matt a subtle nod.

"All right," Tai announced. He leaned back and stretched his arms across the back of the sofa, making Kari and T.K. increasingly uncomfortable. He looked amongst his friends, their faces all turned toward him, some gazes expectant, others encouraging, but all expressing some semblance of understanding. He smiled, oddly content with the way things had turned out.

"Who wants food?" he said. "Yamato's paying."

xXx

**A/N: I know, I know. How upsetting. They didn't even have sex! (Though, if Tai hadn't gotten some sense knocked into him, I don't know what would have happened… The first time I wrote that scene, things played out quite differently… but I deleted it. Damn.) **

**And you're probably left wondering why Tai and Hana didn't just start dating after their night together. All will be explained—sort of. **

**Stay tuned, and thank you for reading! **


	38. Thirty-Eight

**A/N: Thank you for your reviews! Here is your penultimate chapter, and…er… it's not my best. I apologize if things seem rushed or if questions remain unanswered. **

**Read happily! (You're only one chapter away from the end!) **

**:) **

xXx

THIRTY-EIGHT

xXx

**M**att hummed a sequence of notes to himself, a pencil wedged between his lips. His bass guitar was seated on his lap, his fingers hugging its thin neck. Beside him on the kitchen table was an open notepad half-covered in graphite scribbles.

He muttered under his breath.

"Well, that's crap," and he pulled the pencil from his teeth and crossed out a series of words on the paper.

He closed his eyes, feeling the frets with his fingertips as they positioned themselves on and in between the metal strings. His other hand, poised over one of his pickups, was ready to strike a chord and was halted when the apartment buzzer went off. His eyelid twitched infinitesimally at the untimely interruption. With a sigh, he set his instrument aside and went to the intercom, of the mind that T.K., Tai or Sora was on the other end, requesting entrance.

"Ishida, Yamato," he said listlessly into the receiver.

The voice that replied on the other end was shallow of breath, fretful.

"Matt?"

His blue eyes widened. The pupils shrank as he recognized the voice.

"_Hana_?"

When she finally made her way up to his front door, Matt still couldn't believe that she was standing at the threshold. Never in a million years did he expect Hana to wind up—alone—at his house. He wondered what Tai would do if he found out. Kill him, most likely.

She ground the toe of her shoe into the floor, her green eyes fearful of making eye contact with him. She looked like she had been running under a blazing August sun, sweat on her brow, hair rumpled, face a striking shade of pink.

"Hana, what are you even do—"

She interrupted him.

"I'm sorry for disturbing whatever it is you're doing on a Sunday night in the middle of March," she began, hurriedly, nearly speaking gibberish to Matt's ears, "but I tried calling Sora and Kari and Yolei and any other girl I could possibly talk to about this but none of them picked up their phones and I need to talk to someone who knows Taichi as well as the back of his own hand, and you were really my only option and I honestly didn't think you'd actually be here, but I thought, what the heck, I'll just try it because I really, really, _really_ need to talk to someone right now."

Matt poked a finger into his ear.

"What?" he said, after a lengthy pause.

"Could I just… come in, maybe?" Hana said. She was slightly offended that he had been barring her entrance, as if, from the get-go, she was not welcome in his house.

"Sure. Yeah."

He stepped aside and let her pass. Once she had taken off her shoes, she turned back to look at him, her eyebrows furrowing as Matt regarded her with his arms crossed over his chest, blue eyes uncommonly austere.

"Are you angry at me?" she asked, reevaluating her approach.

"No." He shrugged. "Just… _annoyed_."

"By what? My being here? Or what happened back in December with—"

"Hana," he sharply interjected, a hand raised. "I'm not the kind of guy who likes to open past wounds. Yeah, I was mad at you for a lot of things—for rejecting Tai, for ditching all of us for ballet school, for avoiding Tai since Christmas Eve."

She frowned.

"None of those were slights against you, you know."

"I know," Matt acknowledged, "but Tai's my best friend, Hana. I can't just ignore it when the girl he happens to be crazy about won't touch him with a ten foot pole, doesn't send him little gifts from all the places ballet school has taken her, and doesn't even call him, email him, or let him know by some sign or other that she is, in fact, still alive and thinking about him."

He waited a moment to give her room to reply, though he really didn't expect much from her—perhaps an ashamed bob of the head, a murmured apology, playing the victim as she had when Tai confessed his feelings to her and turned his universe on its head.

Hana eyed Matt coolly, her upper lip stiffening. She sucked at her teeth. A part of her wanted to lower her head in shame and whimper, "Yes, yes, I have been treating him badly." But she couldn't. Matt had made a claim that she couldn't let slide. She would fight it.

"Have you even asked Tai exactly what we agreed upon?" she said to him. A muscle twitched in Matt's face at the stridence of her voice. "Because if you think this entire thing is one-sided, you're mistaken, Ishida. Sure. It's true that I haven't sent Tai anything. I haven't spoken or written a word to him in _months_, but he's done the same to me. But do you see _me_ complaining that I didn't hear that he's going to a leadership conference at the end of the term? That some university recruiters will be coming next trimester to see him play soccer? That he's improved astronomically in his academics? That I saw him at the mall last weekend with some… some…" Her nostrils flared, almost comically. "…some _chick_?"

The last comment raised Matt's eyebrows, and instead of coming back with a rejoinder, which Hana was waiting for, he smiled, almost menacingly.

"You were at the mall last weekend?" he echoed.

"… Yes." Her green eyes narrowed to slits. "What does it matter?"

He continued to laugh to himself as he approached her, arms still folded, but considerably more smug in demeanor than irritated.

"So… why are you here, Hana?" he said, looking down at her. His low tone reminded the both of them that their original conversation was supposed to be serious.

Hana looked away, one hand hugging her elbow.

"I was… I was hoping you could answer that for me," she confessed.

Matt smirked one-sidedly and chuckled, earning a glare from her which he ignored.

"Take a seat, Kurosawa," he offered, gesturing to a chair at the dining table. "Whatever you have to say, I'll hear it."

She was inclined to doubt him.

"You will?"

Matt shrugged.

"We're friends, aren't we? Just because you annoy the hell out of me doesn't mean I don't care what you're going through. And if it concerns Taichi, I think I ought to know about it."

Hana snorted.

"What are you? His mother?"

His grin was unfading.

"You're deflecting. Out with it."

With a grunt, Hana obeyed, her body slouched as she sat in the chair adjacent to Matt's. Her eyes did not look up once from the floor as she began the slow, agonizing process of confiding in him. It wasn't what she imagined when she had decided—on a spur of the moment—to seek him out. She had originally sought out Kari and Sora after all, but since neither girl was answering her text messages or phone calls, Hana had no other option but to turn to Matt.

Confronting him in person wasn't the awkward affair. What she struggled with was the topic of their conversation, which also happened to be the center of her feelings, the planet around which her daily thoughts orbited—scattered though they were.

She hadn't anticipated '_him'_ to still be on her mind when she hadn't contacted him in months. If anything, she had hoped that she would lose interest—that whatever happened at the end of December had simply been the result of the moment. She was vulnerable at that time of year. Her feelings were untrustworthy. What she craved after that day was certainty—a certainty that would then lead to courage, courage that would then move her to action, and action that would provoke a confirmation of everything she had thus far denied.

Starting at the ballet school had been another change she would be forced to endure, but this time she had taken it willingly, even if it was just an attempt to restore order to the mess that was her life when December hit.

The school itself was everything she had imagined it to be. Her direct roommate was a girl named Avery. She was an American army brat with a dad in the military, and she had trained in ballet for as long as Hana had. She understood and shared every worry the French brunette had grown up with, and together they could ramble on and on about their favorite composers, choreographers, and dancers, let alone their shared dreams of one day gracing the stages of a prominent opera house.

The other dancers she met in the school were, more or less, carbon copies, varying only in the degree to which they took ballet seriously, the amount of food they consumed, the languages they spoke, and the training they did in their spare time.

For the first time in her young life, Hana was in a world peopled by her kin, and she discovered, after only being there for three months, that she hated it.

The pressure that her mother had expertly shielded her from growing up fell on her head like a roof collapsing. Outside of the classroom, her colleagues and her were friends. They complained about useless exercises, groaned over their weights, listed their injuries and the stories behind them. They talked about their favorite TV shows, actors they adored, what they would be if they weren't destined to dance.

But as soon as they entered the classroom, convened under the scrutinizing stares of their instructors, the camaraderie was lost. Hana could feel the stares of her peers on her body like fingernails on a chalkboard. They read her every move, followed every sinew that stretched, every mistake she made, and she realized, with horror, that she would do the same once it was her turn to sit under the _barre _and watch her peers submit themselves to the center of their small, contained world.

She would catch herself muttering, her mouth sour with jealousy, "_Mon Dieu_, that was beautiful," in response to a fellow dancer's immaculate form; or, "Ugly. Ugly. So damn ugly," while trying to hide a sinister smile when a classmate had bad day.

Everything about her new school, her new routine, felt ingenuine. She had even started doing yoga in the mornings with her roommate because there was nothing else to do, because her roommate had scolded her for sleeping in on weekends, for lying curled up in her bed and looking at her phone as if she expected a call or message when none ever came.

Hana sought out her mentors from the _corps de ballet_, Ren, Emi and Max, whenever she couldn't handle the competitive stress and the sheer hypocrisy of being with her peers. As professional dancers, they had already gone through ballet school, already experienced the arduous task of auditioning for several ballet companies, already knew everything that lied ahead in her chosen career path.

"You're such a baby, Kurosawa," Ren said to her one day. "Grow a pair like your ex-boyfriend. What was his name? Ryo I-Like-It-in-the-Butt Something?" She smiled her evil little smile at Hana, who was ill-amused by her ex's epithet. "Whatever," Ren resumed. "Just suck it up. No one told you this would be easy."

It was as close to comfort that she would ever get from Ren, who, while an excellent dancer herself, had a story not unlike Hana's mother's, who was born and bred to be one thing and one thing only: a ballerina.

Emi put things in a different perspective.

"You need to watch your peers like a hawk, Hana," she warned. "You are all vying for the same spots in the same theatres across the globe, and there's nothing sadder than a failed dancer. All that beauty. All that training. All that time—for what? _Nothing?_" She scoffed. "I'd rather die."

To such a dire prospects, Hana could but growl, "You guys aren't helping," in return. The three dancers just stared at her, curious while they calmly smoked their cigarettes in her midst.

"We're not going to sugarcoat things for you, darling," Max replied. "Stuff like this you can't really prepare enough for. You go beyond what people want. Hell, beyond what people _dream_, or you don't do anything at all. You _don't_ do it. Ballet. At. All. You can't skim your way through this, love."

"I know," she'd said, almost desperately. She waved a hand to clear the tobacco smoke curling around her. "But how do you know when enough is enough? How do you _know?_"

Ren ground the stub of her cigarette into a dish. Dourly, she spoke.

"You don't."

The nights she had cried over the phone to her father taught her nothing new about the life ballet school would lead her to. She asked her father profusely why her mother never prepared her for anything like what she was presently suffering.

Mr. Kurosawa's response had been honest, but did little to quell his daughter's weeping.

"Because she never wanted you to experience it," he had told her.

When Ryo had called her to see how she was fairing, she had complained to him all the same, but unlike her father, Ryo supported her decision to attend the school.

"You've only been there a short time, Hana," he had said to her. "Give it time. Work at it. This is what you want, and no one is going to just hand it over to you on a silver platter. You have to _earn_ it."

It was exactly what she had been hearing everywhere she went. It was what her mother would have told her if she were still alive, but Hana remained dissatisfied. For once, the push of confidence from Ryo did nothing for her. She wanted someone to tell her that she was worrying too much, that she was causing a fuss over something she was supposed to love, that all she needed to get her to refocus was a hot bowl of ramen and a horror movie.

But the only person capable of doing that for her was erased from her phone, deleted from her computer, absent from every part of her life except, perhaps, her thoughts. It only took a little under a month for her to miss him that badly, to want to run her fingers through his hair, to kiss him until their lips were chapped and bleeding. The only thing stopping her was the agreement they had come to—one she had suggested herself.

But close to four months had passed. It was mid-March, and, still, she didn't know how she felt. Or, she thought she didn't. Or she did, in actuality, but was too stupid to realize it. She needed another perspective, someone to meticulously dissect her sentiments with tweezers, to pull away the protective tissue, to poke a nerve and instigate a reaction.

Matt listened to her attentively and rarely made any comment. He opened his ears to everything she had to say, hands clasped and lying lax over his stomach as he leaned back in his chair. His blue eyes watched her constantly shift in her seat, her fingers curling and uncurling. It was like she was trapped in a ball, uncomfortable and writhing within the tight confines of her emotions and the limited number of words available to express them.

He had only listened to her ramble and rant for less than five minutes before he could sum up the rest of their one-sided conversation with a simple declaration. Though, to be courteous (and to prove to himself that he had the patience for it), he let her continue talking for another twenty minutes, after which he decided that if he listened any longer, his ears would bleed.

"Hana," he interrupted, raising a hand in the air.

The girl sucked in a breath, startled out of her longwinded confession.

"Yeah?" she said meekly.

Matt leaned forward in his seat.

"Did it ever occur to you in that _entire_ saga you just recited to me that you've avoided saying something rather… I don't know… _important_?"

Hana gulped.

"I… I don't know what you mean."

Matt wanted to pull at the skin under his eyes. He rubbed his temples. Whatever game Hana was playing, he was tired of it. He was tired of Hana's cowardly denials, sick of the way Tai forced a smile whenever he entered a conversation about her. It was time to end it.

Fate needed a time-check, and he'd be the one to give it.

He stood up from his chair, the legs screeching against the wood floor, and planted his palms flat on the table top. But before he could utter his first reproof, his phone rang. .

"Yeah, Sora," he said, walking over to the front door, his phone to his ear. "I'll let you in."

Moments later, Sora was welcomed into the apartment, expressing some concern over finding Hana sitting at the dining room table, head hanging low, dark hair forming a curtain around her face. If she didn't already gather that Hana was in emotional turmoil, she'd have given the ballet dancer a hug.

"I'm going to… um… start dinner," Sora whispered to Matt. Her boyfriend hadn't explained the situation to her, but she had a good feeling that whatever had been started had reached a point of no return. She figured it was best if she didn't interfere.

While Sora rummaged through the kitchen, Matt returned to his seat at the table. He exhaled noisily before running a hand through his blond fringe.

"All right, Kurosawa," he said at last. "You can go on telling me whatever you want, but I'm not going to listen to anything else until you say—_in plain words_—what you've been saying all along."

"But I—"

"Say it."

The command cut through the air like a blade, and Hana jumped in her seat. Even Sora paused a moment, looking into the dining room from her place in the kitchen, an eyebrow raised in curiosity.

Hana's hands adjusted her headband as she unwillingly looked up and met eyes with Matt, wordlessly pleading him to take back the order.

He looked back at her pitilessly.

"_Hana_," he warned. He pointed a finger at her. "Come on. Just say it. _Say. It._"

The aspiring ballerina groaned, covering her mouth with a hand as she struggled to comply with Matt's demand. The entire ordeal felt like a difficult bowel movement—completely, utterly undesired but also entirely, absolutely necessary.

She inhaled deeply through her nose, glimpsing at the musician one more time before she removed her hand and parted her lips.

"I…"

"…_Yes?_"

She bit her lip, an act which prompted Matt to shake his head and wag his finger at her.

"No. You can't go back now." He got up from his chair and bent down. He put his hands on her shoulders and stared straight at her, his blue stare piercing. The weight of his grip made her shoulders sag, made her want to dissolve into wooden chair she was sitting in.

"But—"

"_Say it_, Hana."

She grunted, frustrated with him, his pushiness, with herself. It was as though he were trying to exorcise a demon from within her.

"Fine," she stated. "I…"

"_You…?_"

"I… I…"

"Come on…"

Hana trembled.

"I… I think… I'm… I'm in… _love_…"

She expelled a heavy sigh and wiped the sweat collecting on her brow.

"I think I'm in love," she repeated. Matt eased his hold of her and sat back in his seat, pleased with her progress.

"Okay," he said. "Now finish it."

Hana gathered her courage, hands clenching clumps of her skirt in her hands. She was in love, she was certain of it. Such a discovery wasn't one that was known or realized, not one that fell on your head like an apple. It was one that was _felt_, in every bone of her body, every strand of her hair.

_You're in love, Hana_, she told herself. _You. Are. In. Love…_

"…with Tai Kamiya."

xXx

Hana lay down on the sofa with her forearm resting over her closed eyes, her mouth opened in perpetual, theatrical agony. Sora chuckled, and Hana could feel the vibrations of her friend's laughter beneath her dark hair. Her head was resting on Sora's lap, and she lifted her arm and opened one green eye, peeking up at the faces of Matt and Sora, both of whom stared down at her, amused beyond redemption.

She was lying down partly because she was filled to capacity with food and also because her entire confession about Tai was making her simultaneously giddy and depressed.

"For how long, Han?" Sora asked, when Hana only groaned at their continued chortling.

"I don't know," she muttered, feeling a burp rising up her esophagus. Sora had outdone herself cooking dinner, and in her stress, Hana had consumed more than she should have. "I told you both already. Things like this hit you like a bolt of lightning."

"Well," said Matt, leaning into Sora and wrapping an arm around her shoulders, "when did the lightning strike you?"

Hana thought a moment.

"Last weekend. At the mall. My roommate, some other dancers and I wanted to go shopping for spring outfits. We had just entered the food court for lunch when I saw him." She paused, her face puckering. "… leaving the mall with that… that… _girl_."

She shook a fist at the ceiling, afterwards redirecting her gaze up at the couple, both of whom had exchanged looks at the mention of Tai's mysterious companion. Matt and Sora continued sitting comfortably beside each other, Sora even going so far as to rest her red head on Matt's shoulder.

"You guys knew," Hana said, the truth dawning on her. She sat up. "I told _you_," she turned to Sora, "that I was going to the mall that weekend. And… And when I mentioned the incident to _you_," her eyes veered toward Matt, "you got this smug little look all over your face."

Against Tai's wishes, Sora and Matt had encouraged him to go to the mall with Davis's sister, Jun, especially after catching wind from Hana that she'd be there as well. Jun herself hadn't been happy about the arrangement—she still had her eyes set on Joe's brother, Jim Kido—but she agreed at the last minute when Matt promised to talk to Joe about setting her up.

When Tai had returned to Matt and Sora after the mall outing, he glared at them once and said, quite adamantly, "Never. Again. _Never_."

"All right, Kurosawa," Matt began, "we admit it. We knew that you'd be at the mall at that time of day and we persuaded Tai to go… _with_ another girl."

She wanted to slap him.

"To what?" Hana retorted. "Make me spontaneously combust? And who is she, anyway?"

Matt grinned mischievously.

"You're going to have to ask Tai that, Hana."

"Ishida, you little—!" Hana squealed, her hands curling into something short of a strangling gesture. She lunged at the young musician, blocked only by Sora, who, laughing, cried out, "No!" while shielding her boyfriend.

Hana promptly fell off the couch in the tussle, landing on the ground with an _'oof!_' followed by the burp she had been keeping in since the end of dinner.

"God," Matt laughed, "You really are suited for him." He looked at Sora, the ginger-haired girl seeming to read in his expression the same idea that happened to cross her own mind.

"All right, Han," declared Matt, "We'll help you with your dilemma. But you're going to have to get the priorities in your life straight."

"I'll do whatever it takes," she said, looking up at them as she continued to stay supine on the floor. "Just… tell me one thing first."

"Anything, Hana," said Sora. She helped the adolescent dancer up off the floor. Hana dusted herself off and sat on the opposite end of the couch, facing the couple that defied all the held beliefs that high school relationships were fragile, superficial, meaningless phases of teenage life.

She picked absently at a hangnail while the question solidified on the tip of her tongue.

"Does Tai…" She hesitated, fearing both possible responses to her inquiry.

_Damn the consequences, _she thought to herself, wincing when she yanked the dried skin off her finger.

"Does Tai…" she repeated, beginning anew.

"…_Yes?_"

"Does he still like me?"

xXx

**A/N: Okay, okay. I will admit a few things first. **

**1.) I know "love" is a strong word, but to use "like" just made it sound… weird. And, besides, it was Hana who had to play catch-up with her feelings. Though, please don't tell me that 'IT'S TOO EASY.' Because with the shit-storm I put these characters through, it wasn't easy. Not. One. Bit.  
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**2.) I bet you're curious about Tai's date with Jun. Bahahaha. Maybe I'll do a one-shot of it for kicks. :P  
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**3.) Last chapter might be slow in coming… for reasons that shall remain undisclosed. …Not that you all are in a rush or anything to see what happens… *whistles* **

**Thank you for reading! Hopefully you will find the reward that is the final chapter fitting. You know, since I tortured you all for a full 38. **


	39. Thirty-Nine!

**A/N: ! **

xXx

THIRTY-NINE

xXx

**T**ai slowly became aware of two things the morning of his first day of school. Firstly, some noise, persistent in its execution like a vocalized and shrill heartbeat, hammered against his impervious eardrums; and, secondly, something warm and soft nuzzled against the side of his face.

The former he managed to silence with a blind swing of his arm, and the latter he didn't quite care enough about to do anything.

With the assault on his ears ended, he promptly slipped back into his dreams, leaving alone whatever comforting object was curled up on his head.

But the sound returned, seemingly more aggravating than ever, for the following three times it blasted its echo. Tai, at last fed up, shot up from bed and was instantly, viciously clawed in the face by Miko, the housecat. Apparently, the pet also had no plans of prematurely waking from its sweet slumber.

Tai quickly restrained the flailing, mewling thing and set her gently on the ground. He groaned at the fresh wound slashed right under his left eyeball.

"Stupid cat," he muttered, rubbing a rheumy eye as he glanced at his clock.

He blanched when he read the time.

"Aw, crap. Crap, crap, _crap!_"

His sister entered their room while he was shoving his arms through the green sleeves of his uniform jacket, her pretty face falling into an open hand at the sight of him.

She murmured into her palm.

"Not _again_…"

Tai scrambled from corner to corner of his room, haphazardly throwing miscellaneous items into his backpack while his mind ticked off the boxes of a hastily assembled mental checklist.

"You don't even have an excuse this time, Tai," she said. "It's the first day of school!"

"I know, Kari," Tai grumbled. "I _know_." He pulled at his jacket collar.

_Shows how much I have my life together_, he thought as he stepped out of his room.

It was an overstatement, he knew. His last academic trimester was rather impressive—enough, at least, to grant him the chance to attend a leadership conference during the two week holiday prior to the start of the new school year.

He hadn't originally planned on going, but his parents said that it would look good on a resume and would bolster his chances of attending university. And so he went and shook hands with the world's future leaders, uncomfortable in the suit he was forced to wear and his face hurting from the endless exchange of polite smiles.

Most kids that had been in attendance were of the polished yuppie type, dedicated to pursuing careers in politics, economics, or some other faculty that required innate shrewdness and manipulation. They also, subconsciously, reminded him of Ryo Hiraki.

But not all of them had been the entitled, tight-laced, idealistic androids he cut them out to be. He even met a girl there: blonde, vaguely athletic, and she had been more interested in solving global issues like world hunger and obliterating AIDS than financial and political crises. Unfortunately, he didn't remember her name, and he found the entire event so inconsequential that he didn't get her contact information, either.

It didn't matter, anyway. He probably wasn't going to see her again.

"Oh my God, what _happened_ to you, Taichi?" his mother exclaimed when he emerged from his room, his cuts red and glowing.

"My alarm clock grew claws," he griped.

His mother shook her head.

"Let me clean it up."

"It's all right, Mom," he insisted. "Kari and I are going to miss our bus. I'll handle it once I'm at school."

Mrs. Kamiya looked at him, her eyebrows wrinkled. She wasn't in the least bit convinced, but she conceded nonetheless and stuffed into her son's grasp an energy bar.

"All right," she said, tidying up his collar and sending him off with a pat on the (unmarred) cheek.

Tai and Kari made it to their bus in time, brother and sister once again breathing heavily as they sank into a booth.

"Make that the last time, _please_," Kari pleaded. "It's too early to run like we're being chased by Numemon."

Tai chuckled, giving his sister a nudge with his elbow.

"You _really_ should be used to it by now, Kari. Really."

He ripped the wrapping of the energy bar off with his teeth and rummaged through his backpack, hoping that he didn't forget anything important—like a pencil, or, rather, lunch money. What he managed to find was some change amounting to roughly two hundred yen, enough for a few snacks from the vending machine. And he didn't forget his soccer training kit, which was a relief he voiced aloud.

"Or an important science project worth half your grade," Kari added with a laugh.

"God, don't even remind me."

He couldn't believe that it had almost been a year since that fiasco—nearly a year since he had met Hana. So much had changed in the time that had passed. She wasn't even at the high school anymore. For all the trouble she had caused him, she didn't even last a full year in his life. Even Kaito had forgotten about her and had moved on to pestering some other new girl, a volleyball player hailing from Nagoya, Japan.

But Hana's unexplained absence didn't keep the basketball captain from ignoring the soccer captain. Tai had just seen his sister off in another wing of the school before he walked up to his locker—the one he had been assigned his first year and would have until he graduated—to put away his backpack.

He freed the lock and yanked it open, only to discover it filled to capacity with the white foam of shaving cream. His anger at the find halted momentarily when a can of silly string rigged to the door hinge generously sprayed and coated his face with neon pink ribbons. The cut on his cheek stung from the contact.

Behind him was unleashed the torrent of Kaito's hoarse, wolfish cackles, punctuated by the metronome that was his fist pounding against the hallway walls.

Tai's hands clenched and his nostrils flared, the other cruddy events of his morning adding fuel to the fire starting to pump through his veins. He ground his teeth, inhaling deeply before the fingers relaxed. Calmly, he wiped the rubbery strands from his face. He didn't bother to remove what had landed on his hair. It would take too long to clean what was already a big mess.

"You really have the mentality of a five-year-old, Yamashita."

Tai didn't turn at the sound of the voice. He only closed his pranked locker shut.

Kaito's apish guffaws came to an end.

"Better than trying to act older than my age, Grandmother Sora," he snarked.

"Nah," contributed another. "Your behavior towards Tai makes you seem more like a preteen girl with an irrepressible crush."

A touchy silence passed. Tai could imagine a vein on Kaito's high forehead beating against his skull.

"Screw you, Ishida," he said before stalking off with the rest of his posse.

Tai turned around.

"Thanks for that, you guys," he said in greeting. "Getting suspended the first day of school because of a fight wasn't on my agenda."

"We know," chimed Sora. "It's why we intervened when we did."

"Even though," Matt added, "we know you like to handle things yourself."

The trio shared a laugh over Kaito's humiliation, and they were only interrupted when Izzy came running up to them, so out of breath upon his arrival that he planted his hands on his knees and nearly pitched forward.

"Geez, Izzy," said Tai. He gave the computer science genius a few rough pats on the back. Izzy only coughed. "Don't have a panic attack. The late bell hasn't rung yet."

"No time to explain," he panted. "Just… We need to get to class."

His dark eyes peeked at Matt and Sora, shifting to the side every so slightly. They understood the gesture immediately.

"_Now!_" Izzy burst.

"Okay, okay," Tai agreed, slightly concerned. "Let me just grab my schedule." He turned to walk down the way Izzy had come.

"_No!_"

All three of his friends had cried out as he took his first step, and he stared back at them all, eyebrow arched and face crinkled in confusion.

Matt smoothly rebounded.

"Uh… Izzy's locker is this way, Tai," he said, jerking his thumb in the opposite direction. "Don't you want to put your stuff away since your locker is… um…" He pointed at the object in question, which was now leaking shaving cream out of its vent.

Tai nodded.

"All right. Good idea."

Matt and Sora breathed a little easier as they followed Izzy in their desired direction, but they had only taken a few steps forward when it hit Tai in the back of the head. The soccer captain's feet froze instantaneously. Blood drained from his limbs. His ears twitched.

All three of his friends swapped panicked glances.

A _laugh_.

It was one he knew like the back of his hand, one he hadn't heard in what felt like millennia, and there it emerged seemingly out of the blue, like a supernova bursting in the emptiness of space, the explosion ringing in his ears.

He turned.

There was a river of people behind him, students all dressed in copies of the same green uniform, their chatter creating a confusing din that made it difficult for him to focus.

The sound of Matt's voice snatched him from his pursuit.

"Tai, come on."

He pushed the spellbound teen from the back, but Tai's feet wouldn't budge.

"One sec. I thought I… I thought…"

His brown eyes desperately searched the wave of faces.

"_Move_, Kamiya," Matt ordered, taking Tai's head and manually facing it forward.

Tai wrenched his face out of Matt's grip.

"What the hell, Yamato? I was just—"

"What?" Matt challenged. "What were you looking for, Tai?"

The musician had posed the questions spitefully, as if Tai had just claimed that he had seen Bigfoot in the flesh.

But the compulsion to continue searching made him glance briefly over his shoulder one last time, and when he couldn't find the glimmer of a pair of green eyes or the flash of a white headband, he looked back at Matt.

"Nothing," he murmured.

It was a lie, of course. Throughout the rest of his school day, Tai swore that he was being haunted—not by some paranormal being, no, but by her memory. During class switches, he was under the delusion that she was hidden somewhere in the academic current, leading him on a chase to nothing, which was exactly the sort of shenanigan she would pull on him. That was, if she was present, which she wasn't.

Other times, he would catch echoes of her laughter, and it had the same affect on him—always—as it did that same morning. He would pause, search frantically for the origin of the voice, not find it, and then resume his walk to class, growing increasingly worried that he was going crazy. Or that, maybe, the energy bar he had wolfed down on the bus was actually drugged, and he was currently walking the hallways of his school higher than Mount Fuji.

His friends caught him reading the list of ingredients on the energy bar wrapper during lunch, as he had crunched it up and tossed it into the temporary garbage bag that was his backpack. Matt was almost tempted to chuckle at Tai's perceptible confusion, but Sora subtly reminded him that he wasn't supposed to let anything on.

"Guys," Tai said as his friends munched away on their lunches. His own midday meal had already been purchased and eaten—a candy bar from a vending machine that cost him most of his two hundred yen.

Sora assumed concern.

"What's up, Tai?" she asked.

"Yeah, you seem a little… out of it today," replied Matt. "Everything okay?"

"I don't know."

"Care to explain?" prompted Izzy.

"Well, that's just it, Koushiro," said Tai, "I don't know how to explain it. I just…" He ran a hand through his hair, fishing out a few strands of silly string. "You guys still talk to Hana, right?"

The silence that followed seemed thick enough to clog Tai's ears, even if they were surrounded by idle cafeteria chatter.

Sora was the first to admit the truth.

"Of course we do. She's our friend. We want to know what she's up to. Maybe not as often as before, but…"

"I'm still invited to eat dinner at her house when she's home some weekends," Izzy confessed.

"And, uh… She's stopped by to say hello, every now and then," Matt divulged, somewhat warily.

Tai looked down at the snack wrapper in his hands, furrows creasing his forehead. Unbeknownst to him, his friends gazed at each other, suddenly aware of Tai's heartache. The soccer captain had endured the months since he last saw Hana with optimism. He went about his days as normally as possible. If he entered a conversation where they had been taking about her, he insisted that they continue. He was still interested in hearing how she was doing, even if they avoided all contact with each other.

But other days, he just wished that he had kept something of hers—an email, a leaflet of her science notes, a doodle of himself as a piece of cauliflower. Anything, really, that he could use as a future excuse to finally break their forced distance. He even rehearsed a reunion several times in his head.

"_Hey, I know it's been a while, but I was cleaning out my things and I saw that you left some science notes with me. Do you want to come by and pick them up?" _or "_I saw something today that reminded me of you. How are you doing, by the way? It's been, oh… only __four months__ since I last saw you…_"

Or, perhaps, his favorite scenario:

"_I swear to God, Hana Kurosawa, if you keep this stupid 'I need a breather' crap up, I'm going to freaking explode._ _And when I see you again—because I am __definitely__ going to see you again—I am going to kiss you and—_"

The rest would remain safely in his imagination.

"And does she, you know, tell you how she feels about me?" he asked, unconsciously tapping a finger to his chest.

"Frankly, Tai," said Matt, his tone uncommonly curt, "if she mentions you, the most we talk about is how you're doing in school."

Izzy forced a nod of agreement.

"Same goes for me. Sora's experience might be different, since she's a girl."

Tai's brown eyes switched to his oldest friend.

"Sora?" he said, patiently waiting for her response.

The red-haired girl pressed her lips together, reluctant to speak. How she wished Mimi were still around to back her up on how confidential girl talks were conducted.

"I'm… _sorry_, Tai," she said, the words passing her lips ruefully, "but if Hana talks about any guys, it's other dancers from her school." She dared to add insult to injury. "I met a few of them once. They're pretty buff."

The latter was news her boyfriend hadn't even heard, and he turned and raised a suspicious eyebrow at her.

"You never told me this," he said.

Sora chuckled uneasily.

"Well, Yama, it was kind of unexpected. I only went to see Hana to give her some cookies, but when I got to her dorm room, she had a lot of people over, so…"

"Just… _stop_."

The request wasn't didn't come from Matt, but from Tai, who had pressed his forefinger and thumb to the bridge of his nose and was presently moaning at the thought of Hana having multiple people—let alone, _guys_—in her dorm room.

"I didn't mean it like that, Tai," she said, but it did little to assuage him.

He scolded himself for the rest of the school day. What was he thinking asking his friends how she felt about him? _Of course_ she was doing fine without him. _Of course_ she was continuing her friendships with pretty much everyone else but him. _Of course_ she would have guys in her dorm room. If he were one of them, he'd probably never leave.

As he sat in his last class of the day—a science class—he could barely concentrate. The course syllabus lying on his desktop wasn't even looked at, nor did he follow the teacher's opening lecture about classroom etiquette and the value of homework. It happened to be a class he shared with Matt, Sora and Izzy—a thing so rare that the last time it had happened was back during their first trimester of high school, and the three of them observed that Tai was looking more and more like a satellite lost in space.

"Maybe you shouldn't have mentioned guys in her dorm room, Sora," Matt had whispered to her. He was lucky that their teacher allowed them to pick their seats. He and Sora shared a lab table while Tai and Izzy sat together at the one beside them.

"I didn't know he'd be like this," she defended. "I thought he'd get that spitfire look in his eyes and be all, 'I'm going to call her right after school, and I'm going to tell her that I like her, and she's going to say yes to being my girlfriend, and—'"

"Well, maybe that would have worked four months ago after he and Hana did God-knows-what before Christmas, but all this time with no contact at all with her? That could convince any guy that the girl of his dreams is best left to his imagination."

"All right. So maybe that bit was pushing it a little." She pouted, concerned that she could have possibly ruined Tai's chances with Hana. Matt reached over and tucked some locks of her hair behind her ear.

"Don't sweat about it, Sor," he heartened. "Hana might still pull this out of the fire yet."

When the sweet sound of the bell ringing marked the end of the first day of his third year of high school, Tai quickly gathered his things. He was itching to go to soccer practice, if only to practice his penalty kicks until their goalie was reduced to a giant purple bruise.

"I'll see you guys later," he said in passing, already out the door before Matt, Sora or Izzy had even folded up their notebooks.

Davis was already in the locker room by the time he arrived, hailing his mentor with a happy wave and a broad grin.

"You think Coach Fukazawa is going to have us do the whole ballet thing again while we prepare for our season?" he asked as Tai laced on his cleats.

Tai frowned at the mention of ballet.

"Well, he already encouraged us to go to the studio ourselves during pre-season," Tai replied, a tad grumpily. "Don't see why he wouldn't send us all back there as a group to get lessons from…"

He bit his lip.

"Anyway," he resumed, "you have any cash I can borrow? I'm freaking starving."

"Uh, yeah," said Davis, with a shrug. "Here." He handed his _senpai_ a few hundred yen, and Tai sprinted out of the locker room to pay a visit to the nearest school vending machine. He had just inserted the change and selected his junk food of choice when he thought he heard her again.

Convinced now that he was diagnostically insane, he traced the origin of the voice, stopping before the girls' bathroom. The door was shut, but he could still catch traces of her garbled French, and he was so confused as to _why_ he would even be hearing her that he was one second away from not only fully eavesdropping, but from wrenching the door open and entering strictly female territory.

The only reason he didn't was because he heard the crackle of his pre-packaged food plopping into the vending machine pick-up slot, and his stomach begged him to hasten towards what would give him his much needed sugar high.

He ate the packet of powdered sugar doughnuts on his way back to the locker room, pausing every now and then when he detected whispers of her voice or the tap-tap of what he swore were the boxes of _pointe_ slippers pawing over the hallway tile. Again, he looked dubiously down at the food he was eating, questioning whether or not the white sugar was, in fact, disguised hallucinogens.

When he returned to Davis and handed the boy his change, he noticed that the rest of their team was already heading out. He was about to join them, jogging up to the front of the line, when Davis stopped him.

"Coach came by while you were gone," he said. "He wants you to grab that extra bag of soccer balls in the storage bins by the other soccer field."

"I'm team captain, Davis," Tai scoffed. "Not the freaking water boy."

"Well, you're not the water boy," he countered with a grin. "You're the ball boy. And coach is making you do it because you're going to lead the exercise using them anyway."

Tai grunted.

"This day sucks," he muttered, spinning on his heel and exiting the locker room from the other direction, unaware that everything Davis had told him had been a lie.

With a forceful shove, the glass doors of one exit out of the school gave way. Tai stepped out into the mild spring air, the cuts on his face stinging and itching, silly string still hanging from his hair. His stomach growled demandingly, the doughnuts apparently insufficient fuel for the rest of his afternoon. Before him was the parking lot he'd have to cross to get to the other soccer field, spread out before him like the desert one would have to trek before reaching oasis.

From where he stood, he had a prime view of other students engaged in their extracurriculars. To his distant right were the tennis courts, and he spotted Sora's red head shining in the sunlight as she returned a volley. In the empty parking lot ahead of him were Matt and his band mates. They loitered about, instruments in tow, discussing their plans for practice and willfully ignoring the clutch of teenage girls squealing in their periphery.

Beyond the parking lot were the basketball courts, where Kaito and his team were already well into a round of layups, balls banging against the backboards in timed succession, interrupted every now and then by a shrill whistle from their coach.

Izzy's nasally voice wafted from a second story window in the school building behind him. Tai wondered what could possibly be discussed during Computer Club's first meeting of the trimester, but he gathered that it was beyond his comprehension and reduced the murmur to a hum of background noise.

The heel of his cleated foot ground itself into the cement ground. He exhaled loudly, air jutting through his twitching nose as he blinked the sun out of his eyes. A pleasant breeze passed through his hair, ruffling the ends and bringing with it the fresh scent of cut grass and…

He sniffed.

_Flowers?_

He turned to his right, in the direction of the wind, and started—hard—his entire body braced as if it were standing solo before Malomyotismon. His lungs seized, and he was on the verge of wheezing like Joe, their resident asthmatic.

There she was.

The phantom that had been haunting him all day was before him in the flesh, doing, of all things, a straddle split against the wall of the school building, her eyes closed and her forehead resting against her shin.

Tai nearly fumbled backwards, the hunger in his gut and the shock of seeing her making his knees buckle. But his feet didn't fail him, and he remained standing, gawping at her with a hand glued to his forehead, his fingers gripping a part of his hair, and his eyes watching her every subtle movement to make sure she was, indeed, within arm's reach.

She was outfitted for ballet practice: tights, leotard, wrap skirt, _pointe_ shoes. Her ribs stuck out when she breathed at steady intervals while she held her split, the muscles in her arms twitching as she shifted slightly against the brick siding. He was still staring at her when she finally ended the stretch, resuming a standing position and catching sight of him gawking at her as if she were an asteroid that had suddenly crash-landed smack in his path.

She allowed herself a few moments to calm her breathing—unsuccessfully. Her throat constricted as she tried to think of a way to start speaking to him since nothing was coming out of his mouth except for hot air.

Heat flared up her neck and she itched the flushed area, succeeding in only making redder what was already quite red.

"Uh… Hi," she managed to say, glancing at him.

He said nothing, just stood there like a dummy, and Hana looked down at her anxiously pacing _pointe_ slippers, the pink satin soles dirtied and frayed.

"What… What are you _doing_ here?" he finally asked. He almost sounded desperate. His voice cracked as he ended his question.

Hana was not in any way encouraged by the request that was spoken more like a command. She set her hands on her hips, keeping her stare on the floor. She smoothed a few flyaways from her bun.

"I… um… I…"

She didn't even know where to begin, but she felt the strange need to fill the space between them with something—_anything_—to make their encounter less uncomfortable than it already was.

"I… I guess I have a lot of… um… explaining to do?"

It was a stupid way to start. She grimaced, smacking her sweaty palm to her forehead. Her cheeks burned. It took every muscle in her jaw to force her mouth open to speak.

"All right, well… ballet school is fine and all," she said, not looking at him. "I was finally with my people, you could say." She laughed, cheaply. He didn't. She swallowed, and it was like downing shards of glass. "Uh… but it… I couldn't…"

She glimpsed at him, blearily.

"I… _quit._"

Still, his taut lips remained shut, and he stood stiff and statuesque in the light of the afternoon sun. Hana groaned dramatically, hiding her face behind her hands as she struggled in vain to sort out what she had to say, but her mind was having a field day. It spit words here and there, mixed up the sequence of her memories, of how she even came to be where she presently was, which was standing before him, babbling like an idiot.

"I like you," she announced, pulling her hands away from her face and staring up at him beseechingly. The words had finally settled on her tongue, however jumpily they were executed.

"A lot," she added.

He continued to stand fixedly in his spot, brown eyes unblinking, arms paralyzed.

"I know what I said Christmas Eve," she continued, "and I know what we agreed on, and I know that what I needed was time away just to sort out my feelings because I thought what I felt for you was just me being stressed and needing comfort."

She couldn't look at him anymore. The words had found their momentum and they would not stop their offensive. They poured from her lips like water unleashed from a breaking dam.

"—and I had already hurt you once before," she said, "—actually, no—I hurt you a lot of times before and I didn't want to hurt you again by jumping into a relationship too soon after I just broke off another one, and, really, I thought that over time I would go back to thinking about you as a friend, but that didn't happen. Things only got worse—well, not worse—better, I guess, because I really do like you a lot and I can't stop thinking about you, Taichi."

The pitch of her voice was escalating, growing higher as each word uttered left her lips ensconced in regret. Her pitiful plea was all that echoed in her brain, her other senses oblivious to Tai's movement, how his body—once frozen in shock by her presence—awakened as she vulnerably lay out the reasons why she had dared to return.

"—and all of your friends know that I'm _completely_ _insane_ trying to arrange this entire thing just to surprise you," she resumed. She laughed spitefully at herself, trying to crush the surge of emotion about to spill from her eyes, from the feelings that would contort her face into one ugly, weeping mess.

Again, he said nothing, and Hana was tempted to stop and turn around and run away, but she was stuck there, unable to move, the rims of her eyes red as saltwater gathered around their fragile edges.

"—but I really, _really_ do like you a lot, Tai." The nose had begun to run, and she wiped it openly against her bare arm.

"—_God_, you have _no _idea how much—_A lot, a lot, a lo_—"

A pair of lips crashed into her own. Two firm, gentle hands slid beneath her jaw, which ached from the impact. Her face was tilted up, thumbs caressing the sides of her damp, blushing cheeks, coaxing her mouth open as she returned the kiss with a passionate eagerness, speech dissipating—transcending—into something far more profound and meaningful: sensation.

Her feet raised her up on her toes to meet him, the heat that had flooded her spreading inwardly throughout her body as she wrapped her arms tightly around him. She cherished the feel of his breath on her face, how his kiss left her breathing raggedly afterwards, her lungs hungry for air. It almost hurt—but it was a cherished pain, a cleansing pain.

Leaning against him, her face pressed to his chest, her eyelashes wet, soaking in whiffs of his scent, she smiled over his heartbeat.

"God, I've missed you," he murmured into her hair. He held her closely, securely, against him, one arm circling her waist, the other around her shoulders.

"Likewise," she murmured into his shirt.

She lifted her head and smiled at him, her green eyes brilliantly bright as they met Tai's gaze. Sniffling, she gently touched the cuts under his left eye and flicked a piece of silly string away from his hair.

"You have a rough first day, Kamiya?" she teased, smirking.

"Me? Have a bad day?" he joked. He looked at her, candidly aghast. "How? I've got this awesome ballerina in my arms. Her name is Hana Kurosawa, and I don't think she realizes that my hand's on her butt, but she's just laughing at me right no—"

He was stopped short. She stood up _en pointe _and peppered his face with kisses, unable to withstand the urge. She kissed him again, and again, pausing only to giggle.

They were oblivious to the attention they were drawing, to the whistles and howls of the Teenage Wolves as Matt led their cheer of victory. They didn't see the flash of Sora's bright red hair as she and her teammates crowded in the corner of the tennis courts, clapping behind the chain fence. Nor did they feel the stares aimed at their heads as Izzy and other members of computer club looked on at them from their window. Kaito's shouted and cranky, "_Get a freaking room!_" was a message that would remain unheard.

Nothing else existed in that moment for them. They stood, together, in the center of it all, blissfully unaware of everything else going on around them.

As much as he wanted her to continue, Tai postponed further kisses. Reluctantly, he separated his mouth from hers, cradling her face in his hands as their foreheads touched. There was still a question he needed to answer.

"So, no. Not a bad day, Hana," he told her softly, the words breathed onto her lips.

He nudged her playfully with his nose.

"I couldn't be happier."

xXx

**A/N: D'aw, wasn't that a cheesy ending? :3 **

**Well, it's not really the ending. I've still an epilogue to put up. But, there you have it! A happy ending! Ahhh! **

**Thank you all so much for reading this story! **

**Honorable mentions must be made to my reviewers: SpaceCaseWriter, Vigatus, M.S. Hackett, Koumi-Locc, solaheartnet, Jenificent3007, ** jennieandersson**982, Yolei199, Hero of Stars, Digidestind4Life, Kitten Cabada, Lethaldoze, BrokenYetDreaming, AzaleaDahlia, Elite Beauty, and, of course, all of my Anonymous reviewers! You guys are amazing!**

**But thanks is due to everyone who has favorited and followed this story! I wish I could list you all, but then I think you'd all kill me for a god-awfully long author's note. But thank you all the same! **

**In fact, a million, trillion, bazillion thank-yous to everyone! Without your input, I don't think I would have ever finished this story. So, thank you, thank you, thank you, for taking the time to express your comments! :) **

**With that said, closing remarks? Favorite part? Least favorite? Areas of improvement? Is Hana worthy of the awesome Taichi? Would you read a sequel? Am I talking to a wall? :P **

**Aveza**


	40. Epilogue

**A/N: The opening of this is supposed to be a tad ironic, especially after reading the last line of Chapter 39. Taken in good humor, of course. ;) **

xXx

EPILOGUE

xXx

**H**e had been Hana's boyfriend for only a few months and already he was unhappy—not because she proved a bad girlfriend, but because she would be leaving. _Again_. Regardless of them getting together at the start of the new school year in April, she was still going to take her summer holiday in Paris with her father and another Tokyo University professor. It had been, apparently, something in the works since February. The tickets had already been bought. They were nonrefundable. _Non-returnable_. Their first summer as a couple would be, in reality, _not_ Tai and Hana kicking back at the beach, or Tai and Hana going to a soccer game, but this:

Tai—alone—in Japan.

Hana—thousands of miles away—in France.

As much as he wanted to think that their separate summers posed an omen foretelling the failure of their relationship, Tai endeavored to remain optimistic.

_One month away from her isn't going to kill you, Taichi_, he reminded himself.

And so it was with a mix of dread and anxiousness that Tai walked toward Hana's apartment complex one afternoon during their first week of summer vacation. She had called him earlier that morning about stopping by "to talk," and without saying it explicitly, Tai knew that what they had to discuss was of immediate importance.

Her flight to Paris was in two days.

Whatever suspicions he had about his meeting with Hana were quickly revealing themselves as truths the instant he stepped through the threshold of her apartment. She had greeted him with a smile instead of the kiss he had grown accustomed to. The hand that held his and guided him into her dining room was cold and its grasp was limp. And, for the first five minutes of their "talk," nothing was said. Hana merely sat in the chair adjacent to his, thumbs twiddling on her lap, and he sat leaning back in his seat, fingers tapping the tabletop in steady, three-second intervals—all of this while sweat pooled around the edges of his scalp.

"So…?"

The prompt was useless. Hana continued to keep her mouth shut, even if he did notice that she mercilessly chewed on her bottom lip.

The hand that had been resting on the tabletop balled into a fist.

"Hana," he began, "if you're going to break—"

"Tai," she cut off, reaching out and seizing his hand.

He stared at her dumbly, the perspiration that had collected around his hairline dripping cold down the sides of his face as he waited for her to continue.

Her green eyes locked on his, her prolonged silence making his head reel from the anticipation. He was on the verge of spitting out, "What? _What!_" when the small mouth parted, and her grasp on his hand tightened.

"Tai," she said, her voice ethereally calm. "Do you want to go to Paris with me?"

xXx

**A/N: FIN!**

**But, oh my! Paris?**

_**Oui!**_

**Now, here is a factoid that I've been holding back on sharing. Hana isn't half-French arbitrarily. She's French because I've always had plans for Tai to return to Paris, which means, yes, yes, you guessed it! He will most definitely reacquaint himself with Catherine. ;) **

***gasp* **

**Also-also, my 'extension' of this story, **_**A Boy and Girl Affair**_**, will be up shortly. Possibly tomorrow, possibly not. Depends on how I feel about it. So keep your eyes peeled! **

**Oh, and I also posted a silly one-shot featuring Tai and Hana called "Curve and Cavil." It's on the mature-ish end of things, but nothing explicitly naughty. Just good ol' fashioned mischief. **

**Okay, I'm done teasing you. **

**Thank you all so much for giving this story the light of day. I honestly expected negative reception since it features an unpopular pairing (Taiora fans probably want to gut me with pitchforks), but your reviews and your readership have really helped me (and this story!) along. **

**So, thank you. In fact, I can't thank you all enough. Thank you for your support, for your kind words, for putting up with a female OC, and for your attention, most of all. I hope you'll continue to follow the adventures I have queued up for both Hana and Tai because their story is far from finished.**

**Cheers! **

**Aveza **


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